Question

College tuition at bedrock university has increased $500 per year for the past six years. Wilma is a freshman this year and paid $10,250 for her tuition. She is curious about her tuition in the coming years and needs this information as motivation to graduate in four years. Assuming the tuition rate increase remains constant, write an equation to represent the tuition at bedrock university in x years.

Answer 1

First you need to find the initial tuition, so multiply the increase by the years
500 x 6 = 3,000

Then subtract that from Wilma’s tuition
10,250 - 3,000 = 7,250

Use that and the rate of increase to create the equation

Tuition = 7,250 - 500x
Where x represents the number of years

Answer 2

Tuition in x years = 10250 + 500x

Explanation:

To find the tuition in x years time, $500 should be added for every year until that time. The current tuition is $10,250.

In one year's time it will be $500 more, in two year's time it will be 2 times $500 more, etc.

Therefore, the equation to fit this problem is:

10250+500x

where x: years after Wilma's freshman year.