Question

Last year at a certain high school, there were 125 boys on the honor roll and 80 girls on the honor roll. This year, the number of boys on the honor roll decreased by 8% and the number of girls on the honor roll decreased by 5%. By what percentage did the total number of students on the honor roll decrease? Round your answer to the nearest tenth (if necessary).

Answer 1

6.8% decrease

Explanation:

a drop of 8% means that only 92% of 125 boys remained on honor roll from last year; .92 x 125 = 115

a drop of 5% means that only 95% of 80 girls remained on honor roll from last year; .95 x 80 = 76

total number of students on honor roll last year = 125 + 80 = 205

total number of students on honor roll this year = 115 + 76 = 191

percent of change = (191 - 205) ÷ 205 = -14/205 = -.068

-.068, which represents a 6.8% decrease