LSAT 121 – Section 1 – Question 10

LSAT 121 - Section 1 - Question 10

December 2005

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT121 S1 Q10
+LR
Strengthen +Streng
Net Effect +NetEff
Eliminating Options +ElimOpt
A
2%
156
B
6%
161
C
6%
157
D
84%
164
E
2%
157
130
143
155
 +Medium 145.604 +SubsectionMedium

The administration at a certain university has explained this year’s tuition increase by citing increased spending on faculty salaries and on need-based aid to students. However, this year’s budget indicated that faculty salaries constitute a small part of the university’s expenditure, and the only significant increases in scholarship aid have gone to academic scholarships awarded regardless of need. The administration’s explanation is not believable.

Summarize Argument
The university administration’s rationale for the school’s tuition increase is unconvincing. The university said the increase is due to increased costs associated with teachers’ salaries and need-based aid for students, but the budget does not reflect these claims.

Notable Assumptions
The author assumes that, while faculty salaries are only a small part of the school’s spending, it did not increase significantly enough from the previous year to justify the tuition increase.

A
With this year’s budget, the university has increased its total spending on scholarship aid by 5 percent.
This does not affect the argument. The author already notes that the budget shows a significant increase in scholarship aid (specifically, to academic scholarships).
B
With this year’s budget, the university increased the allotment for faculty salaries by 5 percent while tuition was increased by 6 percent.
This weakens the argument by attacking the assumption that, while faculty salaries are a small part of the university’s budget, the amount spent on them did not significantly increase this year, which could potentially justify the tuition increase. (B) says this may be the case.
C
Faculty salaries at the university have increased in line with the national average, and substantial cuts in government student-loan programs have caused financial difficulties for many students at the university.
This does not affect the argument. (C) says the increase in faculty salaries is not unusually large and, while students may be facing financial difficulties, the budget shows that the school is not putting more money to need-based aid.
D
Of the substantial items in the budget, the greatest increase was in administrative costs, facilities maintenance costs, and costs associated with the provision of athletic facilities.
This strengthens the argument by showing that the administration’s explanation is unreliable. While the school justified the increase by citing increased spending on need-based aid and faculty salaries, the costs outlined in (D) are actually the largest increases in the budget.
E
Because enrollment projections at the university are very unreliable, it is difficult to accurately estimate the amount of money the university will collect from tuition fees ahead of time.
This does not affect the argument, which is about whether the administration’s explanation is believable. (E) does not elaborate on the explanation or its reliability, making it irrelevant to the argument.

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LSAT PrepTest 121 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Reading Comprehension

Section 3 - Reading Comprehension

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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