Two people quit work and begin college at the same time. Their salary and education information is given in the table below.

\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|c|c|}
\hline
& \begin{tabular}{c}
Salary prior to \\
school
\end{tabular} & \begin{tabular}{c}
Years attending \\
college
\end{tabular} & Total cost of college & \begin{tabular}{c}
Salary upon \\
graduating
\end{tabular} \\
\hline
Person A & \[tex]$18,000 & 3 & \$[/tex]45,000 & \[tex]$33,000 \\
\hline
Person B & \$[/tex]27,000 & 4 & \[tex]$30,000 & \$[/tex]37,000 \\
\hline
\end{tabular}

Choose the true statement.

A. Person A recovers their investment in a shorter amount of time.
B. Person B recovers their investment in a shorter amount of time.
C. They recover their investments in the same amount of time.
D. There is too little information to compare the time to recover their investments.



Answer :

To determine which statement is true, we need to calculate the time it will take for each person to recover their investment in college from the increased salary after graduating.

Person A:
1. Salary prior to college: [tex]$18,000 2. Years attending college: 3 3. Total cost of college: $[/tex]45,000
4. Salary upon graduating: [tex]$33,000 Steps to calculate the time to recover the investment: 1. Investment in college: $[/tex]45,000
2. Increase in salary after graduating: [tex]\( \$33,000 - \$18,000 = \$15,000 \)[/tex]
3. Time to recover the investment: [tex]\( \frac{\$45,000}{\$15,000} = 3 \)[/tex] years

Person B:
1. Salary prior to college: [tex]$27,000 2. Years attending college: 4 3. Total cost of college: $[/tex]30,000
4. Salary upon graduating: [tex]$37,000 Steps to calculate the time to recover the investment: 1. Investment in college: $[/tex]30,000
2. Increase in salary after graduating: [tex]\( \$37,000 - \$27,000 = \$10,000 \)[/tex]
3. Time to recover the investment: [tex]\( \frac{\$30,000}{\$10,000} = 3 \)[/tex] years

Since both Person A and Person B recover their investments in 3 years, the correct statement is:

c. They recover their investments in the same amount of time.