3. For federal student loans, there are four repayment plans: standard, extended, graduated, and income contingent. How much you pay and how long you take to repay your loans will vary depending on the repayment plan you choose. With the standard plan, you'll pay a fixed amount each month until your loans are paid in full . Your monthly payments will be at least $50, and you'll have up to 10 years to repay your loans. The standard plan is good for you if you can handle higher monthly payments because you'll repay your loans more quickly. Your monthly payment under the standard plan may be higher than it would be under the other plans because your loans will be repaid in the shortest time. For the same reason - the 10-year limit on repayment - you may pay the least interest. The table below gives information for the first few months of a standard repayment on a $20,000 Stafford student loan at the federally mandated 6.8% interest for 10 years. By the end of ten years, you will have paid $7619.20 in interest. Month 1 3 5 Payment ($) 230.16 230.16 230.16 230.16 230.16 Principal paid (S) 116.83 117.49 118.16 118.82 119.50 Interest paid (S) 113.33 112.67 112.01 111.34 110.66 Balance remaining (S) 19883.17 19765.68 19647.53 19528.70 19409.21 a. For this repayment plan, you pay a fixed amount each month. As a result, does the balance you owe decrease at a constant rate? What do you think accounts for this? 2 4 b. Find any linear models that are suggested by this data or explain why there are none