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For-Profit colleges

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For-Profit colleges

by sumitkhurana » Tue Jan 27, 2009 11:54 am
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.
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by techwiz » Tue Jan 27, 2009 3:01 pm
I would go with B.

The passage says, even "for-profit" gets more grant, but still there are less students. The conclusion is "for-profit colleges enroll a greater proportion of financially disadvantaged students than do non-profit colleges"

This can be true only if "for-profit" colleges do not engage themselves in fraud.
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by Bidisha800 » Tue Jan 27, 2009 7:55 pm
techwiz wrote:I would go with B.

The passage says, even "for-profit" gets more grant, but still there are less students. The conclusion is "for-profit colleges enroll a greater proportion of financially disadvantaged students than do non-profit colleges"

This can be true only if "for-profit" colleges do not engage themselves in fraud.
Victim of the classic percentage trap. :twisted:

My answer is (C)

When see percentage comparisons make sure they compare the actual number. If for profit colleges have 50 students and 50% of them receive financial aid that means only 25 students.

On the other hand if non profit colleges admit1000 students and only 10% of them receive financial aid that means 100 students.
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by bmlaud » Wed Jan 28, 2009 12:39 am
I go with option B.

Conclusion:It must be, then, that for-profit colleges enroll a greater proportion of financially disadvantaged students than do non-profit colleges.


Option C is comparing the no. of financially disadvantaged students in the two different schools. It can be true only when it compares the proportion fo financially disadvantaged students in the two schools.
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by 4meonly » Wed Jan 28, 2009 12:49 am
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?
Conclusion:
% of financially disadvantaged students in For-profit colleges (FPC) is greater than in non-profit colleges (NPC)

Premise 1: FPC serve far fewer students than NPC.
Premise 2: FPC draw a disproportionate share of financial aid for their students than NPC

C clearly states necessary assumption
Last edited by 4meonly on Wed Jan 28, 2009 1:18 am, edited 1 time in total.
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by bmlaud » Wed Jan 28, 2009 4:30 am
When see percentage comparisons make sure they compare the actual number. If for profit colleges have 50 students and 50% of them receive financial aid that means only 25 students.

On the other hand if non profit colleges admit1000 students and only 10% of them receive financial aid that means 100 students.

Going by the above example Option C says

The number of students receiving federal and state financial aid at for-profit colleges( ie 25) is greater than the number of students receiving federal and state financial aid at non-profit colleges( ie 100).

Which is not true ??????
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by maihuna » Wed Jan 28, 2009 4:41 am
Bidisha800 wrote:
techwiz wrote:I would go with B.

The passage says, even "for-profit" gets more grant, but still there are less students. The conclusion is "for-profit colleges enroll a greater proportion of financially disadvantaged students than do non-profit colleges"

This can be true only if "for-profit" colleges do not engage themselves in fraud.
Victim of the classic percentage trap. :twisted:

My answer is (C)

When see percentage comparisons make sure they compare the actual number. If for profit colleges have 50 students and 50% of them receive financial aid that means only 25 students.

On the other hand if non profit colleges admit1000 students and only 10% of them receive financial aid that means 100 students.
B indeed is correct one. in case you go for c check ur fundamentals of going for an assumption.......drill baba drill...
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by sumitkhurana » Thu Jan 29, 2009 6:41 am
OA is B.
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by Bidisha800 » Fri Jan 30, 2009 12:39 am
maihuna wrote:
Bidisha800 wrote:
techwiz wrote:I would go with B.

The passage says, even "for-profit" gets more grant, but still there are less students. The conclusion is "for-profit colleges enroll a greater proportion of financially disadvantaged students than do non-profit colleges"

This can be true only if "for-profit" colleges do not engage themselves in fraud.
Victim of the classic percentage trap. :twisted:

My answer is (C)

When see percentage comparisons make sure they compare the actual number. If for profit colleges have 50 students and 50% of them receive financial aid that means only 25 students.

On the other hand if non profit colleges admit1000 students and only 10% of them receive financial aid that means 100 students.
B indeed is correct one. in case you go for c check ur fundamentals of going for an assumption.......drill baba drill...
All I can say is if OA is correct then writer of this question needs a lesson in logic ....
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by 4meonly » Fri Jan 30, 2009 9:14 am
Standart question:
What is the source?
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by 4meonly » Sat Jan 31, 2009 3:33 am
This is MGMAT question
Here is official explanation


The argument concludes that for-profit colleges enroll a greater proportion of financially disadvantaged students than do non-profit colleges. This conclusion is based on the fact that students at for-profit colleges draw a disproportionate share of federal and state financial aid. The argument assumes a link between the proportion of aid received and the proportion of financially disadvantaged students enrolled. In so doing, it assumes that there are not other possible reasons for the disproportionate aid distribution.

(A) The conclusion makes a claim about the differences between for-profit and non-profit colleges. Differences among non-profit colleges – such as public vs. private – are irrelevant to the argument.

(B) CORRECT. One alternative reason that might explain the disproportionate aid distribution is that for-profit colleges engaged in fraudulent practices to obtain unneeded financial assistance for their students. If this were true, then much of the aid was distributed based not on the actual financial situation of the students but on the ability of colleges to defraud federal and state governments. This answer choice asserts that this was NOT in fact the case, thereby eliminating this alternative explanation and highlighting a key assumption upon which the argument rests.

(C) The argument's claim is centered on proportions. The actual number of students receiving aid at for-profit vs. non-profit colleges is irrelevant to the conclusion.

(D) The relative educational quality of for-profit vs. non-profit colleges lies outside the scope of the argument, which is focused solely on differences in financial aid distribution.

(E) The issue addressed by the argument is the amount of financial aid distributed to students at two types of institutions. Whether students successfully repay their loans after college is immaterial to the claim made in the argument.
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by Brian@VeritasPrep » Mon Mar 26, 2012 9:04 am
Thanks for the PM invitation to chime in here - actually this is a pretty good question (and funny that it's a MGMAT question, now that it's owned by Kaplan, which would have to be offended by the correct answer choice...right?).

Someone asked me about choice C, which brings up a pretty good discussion on classic GMAT data flaws. If you look at this argument, it's essentially saying:

-For-profit colleges serve fewer students than do other colleges
-BUT, for-profit colleges draw a disproportionate share of financial aid
-Therefore, for-profit colleges help a greater proportion of disadvantaged students

Notice a few things here. The passage does not indicate that disadvantaged students are the only ones who qualify for that aid, so the premises miss the conclusion by a good bit. And you should also recognize that the proportions in the premises are about the AMOUNT OF MONEY, while those in the the conclusion is about the NUMBER OF STUDENTS.

A great correct answer here would point out that for-profit colleges might cost more than others (so they'd attract more money without attracting more students).

But to make this question harder, that more-obvious flaw isn't the one that the correct answer hits. Choice B points out that the money might not go to "disadvantaged students". Remember as we pointed out above - the passage does not indicate that this type of funding goes only or primarily to disadvantaged students. Choice B brings out that possibility that for-profit colleges are obtaining that funding for non-disadvantaged students, which shows that major gap in logic.

I'm a big fan of negating assumption answer choices and treating them as weaken questions. You'll see that many of these questions involve negation, anyway (for profit colleges do not engage...). If you negate that, you get "for-profit colleges DO engage in practices..." that will funnel that money to non-disadvantaged students. That clearly shows the conclusion to be false.


Now for choice C - note that even if C is true, we still haven't solved that gap between "more aid money" and "more students" and the conclusion "disadvantaged students". The huge gap in this argument is that nowhere in the premises do we link "federal/state aid" to "disadvantaged students", which is the crux of the conclusion. Even if more students, total, draw aid at for-profits than at other schools, we still have no link to disadvantaged students. Choice B is the answer choice that attempts to bridge that gap by showing that those students who need the aid - disadvantaged students, are the ones that receive that disproportionate amount of aid.
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by Rastis » Tue Mar 27, 2012 4:50 am
Brian,

How can B be the correct choice? It seems to be the most out of scope answer choice available. No where does it talk about fraudulent practices. It would seem that if any answer choice made sense it would be choice C.

Jesse
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