Rising academic and professional standards are not the primary cause

Rising academic and professional standards are not the primary cause of today’s higher admission standards at many graduate schools. Due to limited human and physical resources, the schools can only admit a fixed number of students each year. The increase in admission standards, which has resulted in lower acceptance rates, is primarily a result of the recent economic recession.

Which of the following, if true, would best support the argument above?

A. Many prospective students have been deterred from applying to graduate school because of decreasing acceptance rates.

B. Many professionals have lobbied for higher academic standards at graduate schools.

C. Many professionals with graduate degrees would not have been admitted to graduate programs had they faced current admission requirements.

D. Many first year graduate students cite layoffs and downsizing as the primary reason that they decided to return to school.

E. There are twice as many universities offering graduate programs today as twenty years ago.