Niah works as a retail sales clerk earning \( \$ 18,000 \) per year. She plans to go to school for medical billing that has a median salary of \( \$ 35,000 \). The cost of her education will be \( \$ 20,000 \). If Niah does not work for the 2 years that she is in school, about how long will it take her to recover her investment if she gets a medical billing job making the median salary when she graduates? a. less than 1 year b. 1.2 years c. 1.6 years d. 3.3 years

To find out how long it will take Niah to recover her investment, we'll calculate her lost earnings while in school and her future earnings after graduation. Niah's annual salary while in retail is \( \$ 18,000 \). Over 2 years in school, she will forfeit \( 2 \times 18,000 = 36,000 \). Adding the cost of her education of \( \$ 20,000 \), her total investment is \( 36,000 + 20,000 = 56,000 \). Once she graduates, she will earn \( \$ 35,000 \) annually. The recovery time can be found by dividing the total investment by her new annual salary: \[ \text{Recovery Time} = \frac{56,000}{35,000} \approx 1.6 \text{ years}. \] Thus, the correct answer is: c. 1.6 years.