To analyze the relationship between years of higher education and current salary using the provided data:
- Joslyn Smith has 6 years of higher education and earns $81,500.
- Heather Miller has 2 years of higher education and earns $38,000.
From this limited data, we can infer the following:
As years of higher education increase, the salary also appears to increase.
Therefore, based on the provided options, the most appropriate answer is:
a positive correlation.