ESSAY: Business Statistics

Questions to be answered in your report:

Use methods of descriptive statistics to summarize the data.
Develop and estimated simple linear regression model that can be used to predict the alumni giving rate, given the graduation rate. Discuss your findings.
Develop an estimated multiple linear regression model that could be used to predict the alumni giving rate using the graduation, % of Classes Under 20, and Student/Faculty Ratio as independent variables. Discuss your findings.
Which of the 123 schools has the most (least) impressive giving rate? Discuss your findings.
Consider a school that similar to Joseph’s university. Joseph’s university has 65% graduation rate and a student-faculty ration of 19:1, 37% of the classes have fewer than 20 students, 23% of the classes have more than 50 students, and have a freshman retention rate of 80%. Should Joseph’s university giving rate be greater or less than 8%?
What conclusions and recommendations can you derive from your analysis?

ANSWER

Abstract

Alumni donations are presently considered an essential source of funds for most universities as the revenue streams shrink, and financial challenges face the organization. Alumni giving has been on the rise in recent years. However, several factors influence giving rates. These are freshman retention rates, graduation rates, student-faculty ratio, and the number of students in a classroom. Both descriptive statistics and linear regression models provide a better understanding of the relationship between giving rates and other variables. The findings from the analysis suggest a positive relationship between graduation rates and alumni giving rates.

Additionally, low student-faculty ratio and high freshman retention rates are more likely to support high alumni giving in university. It is evident from the coefficients in the regression models. Therefore, universities should retain more freshmen for higher alumni giving. It should reduce student-faculty ratios while ensuring that most of the classes have less than 20 students. It should also reduce the percentage of classes with more than 50 students. The changes will improve alumni giving rates due to high performance and satisfaction with the quality of education offered at the institution.

Business Statistics Project

Introduction

The alumni giving rate is a significant concern for most university amidst emerging budget cuts and financial constraints. Most universities are beginning to devise ways of increasing alumni giving rates to address the financial challenges (Anderson, Sweeney & Williams, 2014). However, it is vital to understand the association between the giving rates and other factors such as graduation rates, student-faculty ratio, freshman retention rate, percentage of classes with less than 20 students, and percentage of classes with more than 50 students (Anderson, Sweeney & Williams, 2014). A consideration of the factors is essential in understanding the extent to which the variables include alumni giving. The report presents linear and multiple regression models to predict the alumni giving rates. Retention of more freshmen, high graduation rates, low student-faculty ratios, a low percentage of classes with more than 20 students, and more classes with less than 20 students result in high alumni giving rates.

Data Summary Using Descriptive Statistics The descriptive statistics in Table 1 shows the mean, variance, standard deviation, skewness, median, mode, minimum values for the various variables under analysis. According to the dataset, the average student-to-faculty ratio is 17.77:1, while the percentage of classes with fewer than 20 students averages at 40.37%. The average percentage of classes with more than 50 students is 13.63%. The mean giving rate by alumni is 14.179%, which is relatively lower despite the high average graduation rate of 64.52% over the past six years. The standard deviation and variance give deviation of the data from average values. It shows…