LSAT 132 – Section 2 – Question 25

LSAT 132 - Section 2 - Question 25

December 2010

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT132 S2 Q25
+LR
Necessary assumption +NA
Causal Reasoning +CausR
Kick It Up +KIU
A
36%
168
B
14%
158
C
14%
160
D
27%
162
E
10%
162
161
169
178
 +Hardest 148.345 +SubsectionMedium

University president: Our pool of applicants has been shrinking over the past few years. One possible explanation of this unwelcome phenomenon is that we charge too little for tuition and fees. Prospective students and their parents conclude that the quality of education they would receive at this institution is not as high as that offered by institutions with higher tuition. So, if we want to increase the size of our applicant pool, we need to raise our tuition and fees.

Summary
The author concludes that if we want to increase the size of our applicant pool, we need to raise our tuition and fees.
Why does the author think this?
Because one possible explanation for the shrinking applicant pool is that tuition and fees are too low. It’s possible that prospective students and their parents see the low tuition/fees and think that the education they receive is not as good that provided by a university with higher tuition/fees.

Notable Assumptions
The author assumes that the “possible” explanation is in fact applicable. Although the premises established that low tuition/fees MIGHT be the reason for a shrinking applicant pool, the author never established that it was actually a cause.

A
the proposed explanation for the decline in applications applies in this case
Necessary, because if it were not true — if the proposed explanation does NOT apply in this case — then we’d have no reason to think that raising tuition/fees would help increase the applicant pool size.
B
the quality of a university education is dependent on the amount of tuition charged by the university
The argument concerns perceptions of education quality — what people THINK about the quality of education that they’ll get. The author doesn’t have to assume anything about the ACTUAL quality of education.
C
an increase in tuition and fees at the university would guarantee a larger applicant pool
Not necessary, because the conclusion only asserts that raising tuition/fees is NECESSARY for increasing the applicant pool size. The author never asserts that it would be sufficient to increase applicant pool size.
D
there is no additional explanation for the university’s shrinking applicant pool
Not necessary, because even if there is an additional explanation for the university’s shrinking pool, what matters is which explanation is the correct one — which one actually applies to the situation?
E
the amount charged by the university for tuition has not increased in recent years
Not necessary, because even if the tution HAS increased, it can still be too low to make students/parents confident in the quality of the education offered.

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LSAT PrepTest 132 Explanations

Section 1 - Reading Comprehension

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Reading Comprehension

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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