TheSilverSpoonofEducation

Its been proven that wealth affects graduation rate, but is the colleges wealth associated with
that of students attending? In this analysis, the relationship between university endowment and
the wealth of its students was investigated to try to further understand how poverty is relatedto
higher education. Ultimately, it was found that the endowment of the college isntrelatedtothe
wealthofthestudentsenrolled.

EllaPettichord
DualCreditStatistics
PeriodA2
May23rd,2016
20152016SchoolYear


TableofContents
Introduction
BodyParagraphs
Conclusion
WorksCited
Appendices

Introduction
Manythingsdeterminewhetherstudentsarehappyattheircollege.Thefriendsthey
meet,theprofessorsthatteachthem,andthecurriculumtheyreexposedtoallcanaffecthow
newcollegestudentsfeelabouttheircampusandcollege.Despiteeverystudentgettingwhatcan
onlybepresumedisthesameexperience,areportbyCNNMoneyfoundthatinfact,rich
studentsaremoreeighttimesmorelikelytograduatefromcollegethanpoorstudents,andwhile
thenumberofpoorhighschoolgraduatesattendingcollegehasrisen,thenumbersofthose
graduatingafterenrollingareabysmal(Lubhy).Forrichstudents,99%ofstudentswhoenrollin
collegewillgraduatewithadegree,while21%ofpoorstudentswillleavewithabachelor's
degreebythetimetheyre24.
Whilethisrelationshipbetweensocioeconomicstatusandgraduationratehasbeen
showntocorrelateinstudieslikethisone,Iwanttofindoutifthewealthofthecollegecould
alsoberelatedtothewealthoftheirstudentpopulation.Iwillmeasurethisbylookingatthe
percentageofstudentsenrolledthatarereceivingfederalstudentspellgrants.Thesearegrants
fromthegovernmentthataregiventostudentswhohaveneedbasedontheirfamilyincomes
beinglessthanfortythousandayear.IfoundthisdatathroughtheUSDepartmentof
EducationsCollegeScorecard.Theendowmentofthecollegeisawaytoseehowmuchwealth

thecollegehasonitsown.Endowmentismoneyorotherfinancialassetsthatcollegescanuseto
runtheiruniversity.IwillbeusingtheUSNew&WorldReportEducationwebsitetofind
endowmentsforcolleges,andIwillcounttheminmillionsofdollars.Iexpectmostschoolsto
haveendowmentsfromthetensofmillionstothebillions.Thisquestionisimportantbecauseit
couldhelpusunderstandthelinksbetweenpovertyandhigheducation.Thenullhypothesisis
thatbetweeneachcategoryofpellgrant,theaverageendowmentisequal.Thealternative
hypothesisisthatatleastonegroupisdifferent.Iexpectthatuniversitieswithhigher
endowmentswillhavehigherpercentagesofstudentsreceivingpellgrantsbecausetheseschools
havemoremoneytogiveourtotheirstudentsinorderforthemtopayforcollege.

BodyParagraphs

ThepopulationImexaminingisnonprofitprivateandpublicuniversitiesintheUS.I

willrandomlyselectuniversitiesfromthelistofUSUniversitiesbyStatecreatedbythe
UniversityofTexasatAustinandlastmodifiedApril7th,2016.Toselectthemrandomly,Iused
thelistgeneratoratrandom.org,whichwouldrandomizethelistofuniversities.Fromthat,I
wentdownthelistandfoundthepercentageofstudentsreceivingpellgrants.ThecategoriesI
usedwerelow,0to30%,middle,31to40%,andhigh,41%andabove.Insampling,mygoal
wastofindtenofeach.OnceIhadfilledthatcategorywithtencolleges,Istoppedaddingmore
andfocusedongettingdatafortheothercategories.
Isispossiblethatthesecategoriesarentthebestwaytoorganizepellgrantpercentage.If
thatsthecase,thissamplingprocedurecouldhavebeennotaccuratelyreflectingthedataofthe
universitiesIwaslookingat.

Totestmyhypothesis,IrananANOVAtestbecauseIwastestingaquantitativevalue
acrossthreegroups.TheassumptionsthatIhadtocheckwerethatitwasarandomsample,
whichitwas,thatitwasindependent,whichitwas,andthatthesamplevariabilitywasnttoo
large,whichitdidntmeet.Twicethevariabilityofthelowestvalueis70.43,whichislower
thanthevariabilityofbothoftheothersets,95.21and2286.68.Thismeansthatwemust
proceedwithcaution.Inaddition,thegraphsofeachcategoryisslightlyskewedright.Inthe
ANOVA,thepvaluewas0.17,whichmeanstheresultsarenotsignificantandthenull
hypothesisfailstorejectunderanysignificancelevel.Thatmeansthattheamountofstudents
receivingpellgrantsisunrelatedtotheendowmentthecollegehas.

Conclusion
Inconclusion,Ifoundthattheendowmentwasunrelatedtothepercentageofstudents
receivingpellgrants.Thisdisappointedme,sinceIthoughtuniversitieswithmoremoneywould
bemorewillingtodistributeit.Infact,thetrendwastheoppositeway.Universitieswithlow
percentagesofpellgrantsstudentshadthehighestaverageendowmentsof$1068.81million,
whilemiddleandhigherpercentageschoolshadaverageendowmentsof$57.17millionand
$87.57millionrespectively.Thisdataisntstatisticallysignificant,butIstillthinkitsan
interestingtrend.Theendowmentandpellgrantpercentagewasunrelated,whichmeansthat
universitiesarentusuallyusingtheirendowmentstomakeroomforunderprivilegedstudents.
OnethingthatInoticedasIcollecteddatawasthateverycollegethatIwasfamiliarwith,
suchasIviesandevenUTAustin,wereinthelowcategoryofschoolsreceivingpellgrants.Id
liketorunatesttoseeifrankingandpercentageofstudentsreceivingpellgrantsarerelatedin
anyway.

WorksCited

"AgnesScottCollege."
U.S.News&WorldReport
.U.S.News&WorldReportLP,n.d.Web.
17May2016.
"AlcornStateUniversity."
U.S.News&WorldReport
.U.S.News&WorldReportLP,n.d.
Web.17May2016.
"AlverniaUniversity."
U.S.News&WorldReport
.U.S.News&WorldReportLP,n.d.Web.17
May2016.
"AndrewsUniversity."
U.S.News&WorldReport
.U.S.News&WorldReportLP,n.d.Web.
17May2016.
"BethanyLutheranCollege."
U.S.News&WorldReport
.U.S.News&WorldReportLP,n.d.
Web.17May2016.
"CaliforniaStateUniversityLosAngeles."
U.S.News&WorldReport
.U.S.News&World
ReportLP,n.d.Web.17May2016.
"CampbellsvilleUniversity."
U.S.News&WorldReport
.U.S.News&WorldReportLP,n.d.
Web.17May2016.
"CatawbaCollege."
U.S.News&WorldReport
.U.S.News&WorldReportLP,n.d.Web.17
May2016.
"TheCitadel."
U.S.News&WorldReport
.U.S.News&WorldReportLP,n.d.Web.17May
2016.
"CollegeoftheHolyCross."
U.S.News&WorldReport
.U.S.News&WorldReportLP,n.d.
Web.17May2016.

"CollegeScorecard."
CollegeScorecard
.U.S.DEPARTMENTOFEDUCATION,n.d.Web.17
May2016.
"EasternKentuckyUniversity."
U.S.News&WorldReport
.U.S.News&WorldReportLP,n.d.
Web.17May2016.
"GallaudetUniversity."
U.S.News&WorldReport
.U.S.News&WorldReportLP,n.d.Web.
"GramblingStateUniversity."
U.S.News&WorldReport
.U.S.News&WorldReportLP,n.d.
Web.17May2016.
"GramblingStateUniversity."
Wikipedia
.WikimediaFoundation,n.d.Web.17May2016.
"JohnCarrollUniversity."
U.S.News&WorldReport
.U.S.News&WorldReportLP,n.d.
Web.17May2016.
"MaineMaritimeAcademy."
U.S.News&WorldReport
.U.S.News&WorldReportLP,n.d.
Web.17May2016.
"MoravianCollege."
U.S.News&WorldReport
.U.S.News&WorldReportLP,n.d.Web.17
May2016.
"NorthwesternUniversity."
U.S.News&WorldReport
.U.S.News&WorldReportLP,n.d.
Web.17May2016.
"PacificUniversity."
U.S.News&WorldReport
.U.S.News&WorldReportLP,n.d.Web.17
May2016.
"ParkUniversity."
U.S.News&WorldReport
.U.S.News&WorldReportLP,n.d.Web.17
May2016.
"Rutgers,TheStateUniversityofNewJerseyNewark."
U.S.News&WorldReport
.U.S.News
&WorldReportLP,n.d.Web.17May2016.

"SacredHeartUniversity."
U.S.News&WorldReport
.U.S.News&WorldReportLP,n.d.
Web.17May2016.
"St.John'sCollege."
U.S.News&WorldReport
.U.S.News&WorldReportLP,n.d.Web.17
May2016.
"SUNYCollegePlattsburgh."
U.S.News&WorldReport
.U.S.News&WorldReportLP,n.d.
Web.17May2016.
"SUNYCollegePotsdam."
U.S.News&WorldReport
.U.S.News&WorldReportLP,n.d.
Web.17May2016.
"UniversityofCincinnati."
U.S.News&WorldReport
.U.S.News&WorldReportLP,n.d.
Web.17May2016.
"UniversityofNewHampshire."
U.S.News&WorldReport
.U.S.News&WorldReportLP,
n.d.Web.17May2016.
"UniversityofNorthFlorida."
U.S.News&WorldReport
.U.S.News&WorldReportLP,n.d.
Web.17May2016.
"UniversityofRhodeIsland."
U.S.News&WorldReport
.U.S.News&WorldReportLP,n.d.
Web.17May2016.
"WashingtonCollege."
U.S.News&WorldReport
.U.S.News&WorldReportLP,n.d.Web.
17May2016.
"WilkesUniversity."
U.S.News&WorldReport
.U.S.News&WorldReportLP,n.d.Web.17
May2016.

Appendices

AppendixA:Data

university

percent.pellgra freshman.rete mil.endowme

nt
n
nt

pellgrantcat

NorthwesternUniversity(IL)

14

97 7501.1

low

WashingtonCollege(MD)

15

83

201.8 low

SacredHeartUniversity(CT)

15

80

137.1 low

CollegeoftheHolyCross
(MA)

16

95

726.2 low

UniversityofNewHampshire
(NH)

22

86

336.4 low

TheCitadel(SC)

24

84

244.5 low

JohnCarrollUniversity(OH)

27

88

198.3 low

UniversityofCincinnati(OH)

27

86 1182

UniversityofRhodeIsland
(RI)

27

82

143 low

MaineMaritimeAcademy
(ME)

29

80

17.7 low

MoravianCollege(PA)

30

78

108.7 middle

WilkesUniversity(PA)

31

80

43.7 middle

PacificUniversity(OR)

31

73

103.7 middle

ParkUniversity(MO)

32

64

68.3 middle

AndrewsUniversity(MI)

32

79

43.10 middle

UniversityofNorthFlorida
(FL)

35

83

95.8 middle

SUNYCollegeatPlattsburgh
(NY)

35

82

18 middle

AlverniaUniversity(PA)

35

74

27.9 middle

CampbellsvilleUniversity
(KY)

38

69

13.8 middle

StJohn'sCollege(NM)

40

76

48.7 middle

BethanyLutheranCollege
(MN)

41

72

43.2 high

CatawbaCollege(NC)

43

70

53.3 high

low

EasternKentuckyUniversity
(KY)

43

66

61.5 high

SUNYCollegeatPotsdam
(NY)

44

77

22.3 high

AgnesScottCollege(GA)

45

83

272.3 high

RutgersUniversityNewark
(NJ)

46

71

193.1 high

GallaudetUniversity(DC)

48

70

193.1 high

CaliforniaStateUniversity
LosAngeles(CA)

64

82

19.5 high

GramblingStateUniversity
(LA)

73

69

4.5 high

AlcornStateUniversity(MS)

79

70

12.9 high

AppendixB:Graphs

AppendixC:RCode

>#Showhowmanycollegesareineachgroup
>table(college$pellgrantcat)

highlowmiddle
101010
>
>#Calculateavgendowmentofeachgroup
>aggregate(mil.endowment~pellgrantcat,college,mean)
pellgrantcatmil.endowment
1high87.57
2low1068.81
3middle57.17
>
>#Calculatesdofendowmentwithineachgroup
>aggregate(mil.endowment~pellgrantcat,college,sd)
pellgrantcatmil.endowment
1high95.21382
2low2286.67623
3middle35.21310
>
>#Visualizethegroupmeansandvariability
>low<college[college$pellgrantcat=="low",]
>boxplot(low$mil.endowment,main="EndowmentofLowPellGrantCollege",

ylab="Endowment(mil)")
>middle<college[college$pellgrantcat=="middle",]
>boxplot(middle$mil.endowment,main="EndowmentofMiddlePellGrantCollege",
ylab="Endowment(mil)")
>high<college[college$pellgrantcat=="high",]
>boxplot(high$mil.endowment,main="EndowmentofHighPellGrantCollege",
ylab="Endowment(mil)")
>boxplot(college$mil.endowment~college$pellgrantcat,main="EndowmentbyPellGrant
Percent",ylab="Endowment",xlab="PellGrantCategory")
>
>#RunANOVA
>modelbud<aov(college$mil.endowment~col
lege$pellgrantcat)

>summary(modelbud)
DfSumSqMeanSqFvaluePr(>F)
college$pellgrantcat2662390533119531.8960.17
Residuals27471527441746398

AppendixD:InquiryReport(revisionsinbold)

IsCollegeEndowmentRelatedtoFreshmanRetentionRate?

Manythingsdeterminewhetherstudentsarehappyattheircollege.Thefriendsthey
meet,theprofessorsthatteachthem,andthecurriculumtheyreexposedtoallcanaffecthow
newcollegestudentsfeelabouttheircampusandcollege.Despiteeverystudentgettingwhatcan
onlybepresumedisthesameexperience,areportbyCNNMoneyfoundthatinfact,rich
studentsaremoreeighttimesmorelikelytograduatefromcollegethanpoorstudents,andwhile
thenumberofpoorhighschoolgraduatesattendingcollegehasrisen,thenumbersofthose
graduatingafterenrollingareabysmal(Lubhy).Forrichstudents,99%ofstudentswhoenrollin
collegewillgraduatewithadegree,while21%ofpoorstudentswillleavewithabachelor's
degreebythetimetheyre24.

Whilethisrelationshipbetweensocioeconomicstatusandgraduationratehasbeen
showntocorrelateinstudieslikethisone,Iwanttofindoutifthewealthofthecollegecould
alsoaffectthelikelihoodofastudentcontinuingtoenroll.Agoodmeasureofwhetherstudents
willstayenrolledisthefreshmanretentionrate,whichrecordshowmanystudentswhoattended
freshmanyearwillcomebackassophomores.Tofindthisdataforeachcollegeinmysample,I
willusetheCollegeBoardwebsite,whichprovidesthepercentageofstudentsreturningfor
sophomoreyear.Iexpectmostschoolstohaveretentionratesfrom70%to99%.
Theendowmentofthecollegeisawaytoseehowmuchwealththecollegehasonits
own.Endowmentismoneyorotherfinancialassetsthatcollegescanusetoruntheiruniversity.I
willbeusingtheUSNew&WorldReportEducationwebsitetofindendowmentsforcolleges,
andIwillcounttheminmillionsofdollars.Iexpectmostschooltohaveendowmentsfromthe
tensofmillionstothebillions.
ThepopulationImexaminingisnonprofitprivateandpublicuniversitiesintheUS.I
willrandomlyselectuniversitiesfromthelistofUSUniversitiesbyStatecreatedbythe
UniversityofTexasatAustinandlastmodifiedApril7th,2016.Toselectthemrandomly,Iwill
numbereachuniversityandthenusearandomnumbergeneratortoselectmysample.Tomake
suremydatawillproduceaccurateresults,Iwillfinddatafor30colleges.
Toseeifthesearerelated,Iwillruncorrelationtestsforlinear,exponential,andlogistic
correlation.ThisissothatIcantestifthesetwoquantitativevariablesarecorrelated,andifso,to
whatdegree.
Ithasbeenproventhatmoneyhastiestograduatingfromcollege.Byexamining
endowmentandfreshmanretentionrate,Iwillbeexaminingifitisonlythestudentswealththat

matters,orifitsthecollegesmoneythatcanleadtograduating.Withthatdata,Iwillrun
correlationtestsonittoseeifthesetwoquantitativevariablesarerelated.OnethingIam
concernedaboutiscontrollingforthenumberofpoorstudentsateachuniversity,whichhas
alreadybeenprovenwilllowerretentionrates.IthinkIcancontrolthisusingdatafromtheUS
DepartmentofEducationsCollegeScorecardthatprovidesthepercentageofstudentsattending
thathadfamilyincomesoflessthan$40,000andwerereceivingfederalpellgrantstofundtheir
education.AnothervariableImayneedtotryandcontrolistheaverageearningofgraduates
fromthatuniversity,sincethosemakingmoremoneyaremorelikelytogivesomebacktotheir
university.
Inordertocontrolforthisvariable,Ihaveastratifiedsamplingtechnique.With
categoriesoflow,middle,andhighpercentageofstudentsreceivingpellgrants,Icanmake
surethatIhaveanevenamountofrepresentationfromeachsamplepopulation.

AppendixE:websitelink

ellastatisticsportfolio.weebly.com