A previous exercise discussed the relationship between the average college tuition (in 2003 dollars) for private and public colleges. The data indicated in the article follow:

Period 1983–1984 1988–1989 1993–1994 Private 9,202 12,146 13,844 Public 2,074 2,395 3,188 Period 1998–1999 2003–2004 2008–2009 Private 16,454 19,710 21,582 Public 3,632 4,694 5,652

a. Construct the regression equation that would predict the average college tuition for private colleges using that of the public colleges.

b. Determine if there is a linear tendency for the average college tuition for private colleges to increase when the average college tuition for public colleges increases. Use a significance level of 0.05 and a p-value approach.

c. Provide a 95% confidence interval for the average college tuition for private colleges when the average college tuition for public colleges reaches $7,000.

d. Is it plausible that the average college tuition for private colleges would be larger than $35,000 when the average college tuition for public colleges reaches $7,000? Support your assertion with statistical reasoning.