There annual cost of tuition, room, and board at 2-year public colleges is about $4800. This represents 30% of comparable costs at 2-year private colleges. How much is the cost of tuition, room, and board at 2-year private colleges?

Answer 1

Let \( x \) represent the cost of tuition, room, and board at 2-year private colleges. According to the information provided, the cost at 2-year public colleges is 30% of the cost at private colleges. This can be set up as the equation:

\[ 0.30x = 4800 \]

To find \( x \), we can solve for it by dividing both sides of the equation by 0.30:

\[ x = \frac{4800}{0.30} \]

Calculating the right side:

\[ x = 4800 \div 0.30 = 4800 \div 0.3 = 16000 \]

Thus, the cost of tuition, room, and board at 2-year private colleges is

\[ \boxed{16000} \]