Critical Reasoning

For-profit colleges serve far fewer students than either public or private non-profit colleges. At the same time, relative to non-profit colleges, for-profit colleges draw a disproportionate share of federal and state financial aid, such as tuition grants and guaranteed loans, for their students. It must be, then, that for-profit colleges enroll a greater proportion of financially disadvantaged students than do non-profit colleges.

The conclusion above depends on which of the following assumptions?

a) Public non-profit colleges and private non-profit colleges enroll a similar proportion of financially disadvantaged students.

b) For-profit colleges do not engage in fraudulent practices in helping their students obtain unneeded federal and state financial aid.

c) The number of students receiving federal and state financial aid at for-profit colleges is greater than the number of students receiving federal and state financial aid at non-profit colleges.

d) For-profit colleges are of similar educational quality as non-profit colleges.

e) The majority of students at for-profit colleges do not default on repayment of their loans after they complete college.