Because of high tuition costs at state and private universities, enrollments at community colleges have increased dramatically in recent years. The following data show the enrollment (in thousands) for Jefferson Community College for the nine most recent years. Year Period (1,000s) Enrollment
2001 1 6.5
2002 2 8.1
2003 3 8.4
2004 4 10.2
2005 5 12.5
2006 6 13.3
2007 7 13.7
2008 8 17.2
2009 9 18.1
a. Construct a time series plot. What type of pattern exists in the data?
b. Use simple linear regression analysis to find the parameters for the line that minimizes MSE for this time series.
(c) What is the forecast for year 10?