The annual tuition at a community college since 2001 is modeled by the equation C = 2,000 (1.1) n, where C is the tuition and n is the number of years since 2001. What is the tuition cost in 2001?

First, we know that it is 2017 so:

2017-2001=16 years

Put that into the equation:

C = 2,000 (1.1) 16

Find out the answer ...

What you should have got was 35,200 and that, is the total off the tuition since 2001. Since we need to know what the tuition cost was in 2001 we:

Divide: 35,200/16 = 2,200

Answer is: The tuition cost in 2001 was $2,200.