Simple Table To Graph

I chose to look at the cost of tuition and room and board from 1996 to 2009. I wanted room and board and tuition to be separate to show where the increase in total cost is, and not everyone pays room and board so it is important that tuition is separate. I used both excel and PowerPoint to create these visuals. I made the graphs in excel and then added label inside the graphs on two of them instead of having a legend because this reduces the cognitive load. I also had trouble getting the label to appear inside the graph when using excel and that is why I used PowerPoint to do that.I think that the column chart is the best representation of the information because it shows the steady increase but it is not necessary to have a continuous line because there is no data in between the dates. I also think that it gives a better visual for comparing the relationship between room and board and tuition.