A program instituted in a particular state allows parents to prepay

Question

A program instituted in a particular state allows parents to prepay their children’s future college tuition at current rates. The program then pays the tuition annually for the child at any of the state’s public colleges in which the child enrolls. Parents should participate in the program as a means of decreasing the cost for their children’s college education.

Which of the following, if true, is the most appropriate reason for parents not to participate in the program?

(A) The parents are unsure about which public college in the state the child will attend.

(B) The amount of money accumulated by putting the prepayment funds in an interest-bearing
account today will be greater than the total cost of tuition for any of the pubic colleges when the child enrolls.

(C) The annual cost of tuition at the state’s pubic colleges is expected to increase at a faster rate than the annual increase in the cost of living.

(D) Some of the state’s public colleges are contemplating large increases in tuition next year.

(E) The prepayment plan would not cover the cost of room and board at any of the state’s public colleges.

The passage recommends that parents participate in a tuition prepayment program as a means of decreasing the cost of their children’s college education. The second choice suggests that placing the funds in an interest-bearing account would be more cost-effective than participating in the prepayment program. This would be an excellent reason for not participating in the prepayment program and is the best answer.

Neither the first nor the last choice provides a good reason for not participating. Since the program applies to whatever public college the child might choose to attend, the contingency described in the first choice is covered in the plan. The prepayment plan covers only the cost of tuition, so the last choice is irrelevant.

The third and fourth choices, by stating that tuition will increase, provide support for participating in the program.

menacel · Accepted Answer

Remember when reading the answer choices that the question is, which is the most appropriate reason for a parent  NOT  to participate in the program

(A) The parents are unsure about which public college in the state the child will attend.
 
A...a is tempting (definitely was for me) because the reader thinks that the child could attend ANY state in the country, but closer examination reveals that the statement says "which public college IN THE STATE  the child will attend. So the statement tells us that the child is going to reside in state no matter what and the program WILL benefit the parents...so A is out

(B) The amount of money accumulated by putting the prepayment funds in an interest-bearing
account today will be greater than the total cost of tuition for any of the pubic colleges when the child enrolls.

B...B tells us that if parents put their funds in an account today, then the amount will be greater than the total cost of tuition for any of the public colleges when the child enrolls...This read to me as...WHY SHOULD I GIVE MY MONEY TO YOU WHEN I CAN MAKE MORE BY MYSELF...essentially, there is no incentive for parents to pay for their child's tuition at current rates because they will have an ample amount if they put their money in an interest account and take it out in the future

(C) The annual cost of tuition at the state’s pubic colleges is expected to increase at a faster rate
than the annual increase in the cost of living

C..This is a reason TO invest...if tuition is expected to go up, then I would want to pay NOW at CURRENT PRICES.

(D) Some of the state’s public colleges are contemplating large increases in tuition next year.

D...not sure what it's called, but D uses the good old trick assuming that "if they are doing something, then we are gonna do it too". We can't assume this. So it's out

(E) The prepayment plan would not cover the cost of room and board at any of the state’s public
colleges.

E this one is pure bait for college students or graduates, while we are all worried about room and board, and know that it comes in the overall package in college, room and board has no effect on tuition costs..so its out

Essentially, try to explain what the statements are saying in your own words. Sometimes I think that I think that I'm with an author and 5 friends, and I'm cracking jokes about how dumb their arguments are...

try it, making fun of people usually revolves around destroying arguments

tl;dr B IMO

GMATNinja · Answer

This question is tempting us to overthink what we've read, so let's focus on being ridiculously precise with the exact language in the passage.

The author concludes that parents should participate in the prepayment program as a means of decreasing the cost of their children's college education. The prepayment program accepts payments for  tuition  at current rates. Tuition,  by definition , is a fee charged for academic instruction. As you've noted, tuition does not include room and board. They are separate fees.

This is not an assumption by the author, because this separation already exists in the definitions of these words. This also means that Choice (E) isn't adding any new information, and doesn't have any logical impact on the author's conclusion about  savings on tuition . If (E) is true, the prepayment plan works exactly the same way, and paying tuition at current rates is just as likely (or unlikely) to result in a decrease in the overall cost of college education for these students.

In other words, the parents will have to pay for room and board  regardless  of whether they use the prepayment plan. We are only interested in whether parents will save money on  tuition  by utilizing the prepayment plan.

Because (E) doesn't change our evaluation of the prepayment plan, it is not an appropriate reason for parents to not participate. So we eliminate this choice and go for choice (B), which directly addresses how current prepayment funds could be better used to make college  tuition  more affordable in the future.

I hope this helps!

naveenhv · Answer

Easy B. It gives a compelling reason why Parents should not invest in the said program.

metallicafan · Answer

+1 B

If the interest acount can generate a final amount greater than the amount that will be paid by the program, the interest acount will be useful not only to pay the college but also other things.

seed · Answer

GMATNinja  pls help me to eliminate option (E).

How can we assume that "tuition fee" includes "room & board charges"? If these two are separate fees then it will be one of the reason for Parents to not invest, right?

Skywalker18 · Answer

Hi  seed  ,
The conclusion is Parents should participate in the program as a means of decreasing the cost for their children’s college education.
Type - Weaken

(E) The prepayment plan would not cover the cost of room and board at any of the state’s public colleges. -- Even if the prepayment plan does not cover the cost of room and board at any of the state’s public colleges , Parents should participate if they can save money .

(B) The amount of money accumulated by putting the prepayment funds in an interest-bearing
account today will be greater than the total cost of tuition for any of the pubic colleges when the child enrolls.

1.The annual tuition fees at state's public colleges is expected to decrease in a few years time as Government funding increases from next year onwards.
2.Most of the students in the given state will enroll in Private colleges.

Are the above valid weakeners too ?
 AjiteshArun  ,  GMATNinja  ,  mikemcgarry  ,  egmat  ,  RonPurewal  ,  DmitryFarber  ,  MagooshExpert  ,  ccooley  ,  GMATNinjaTwo  , 
 VeritasPrepKarishma  ,other experts-- please enlighten

Hope this helps!!

MagooshExpert · Answer

Hi Skywalker18 , Yes, those are both valid weakeners!

-Carolyn

eswarchethu135 · Answer

A program instituted in a particular state allows parents to prepay their children’s future college tuition at current rates. The program then pays the tuition annually for the child at any of the state’s public colleges in which the child enrolls. Parents should participate in the program as a means of decreasing the cost for their children’s college education.

Which of the following, if true, is the most appropriate reason for parents not to participate in the program?

(A) The parents are unsure about which public college in the state the child will attend. --   Irrelevant

(B) The amount of money accumulated by putting the prepayment funds in an interest-bearing account today will be greater than the total cost of tuition for any of the public colleges when the child enrolls. --   The money received in an interest-bearing account is more than the tuition fee, then why would parents go for the programme proposed? They don't need to go to this programme. Strong explanation. Correct

(C) The annual cost of tuition at the state’s public colleges is expected to increase at a faster rate than the annual increase in the cost of living.

(D) Some of the state’s public colleges are contemplating large increases in tuition next year. --   this forces the parents to join the programme.

(E) The prepayment plan would not cover the cost of room and board at any of the state’s public colleges. --   very weak reasoning when compared to statement B

BhishmaNaidu99 · Answer

To weaken the conclusion, we must see for the option which says that , either prepayment won't help to reduce the education costs or prepayment is not much useful in general.
A. This option isn't clear , even if they know which college they may join , it doest say y to avoid the prepayment. 
B. If by other means , money will be more than the tuition costs , then they will save more here, but by government they will only receive the tuition amount,so its good option than prepayment. CORRECT.
C. Comparison of tuition fee and cost of living is irrelevant here.
D. This options also doesn't say y to avoid prepayment .if in actual they increase it says better go for prepayment. 
E. The argument is about the tuition fee but not about the room cost and all, so it is irrelevant.

Posted from my mobile device

mba757 · Answer

Conclusion : “Parents should participate in the program as a means of decreasing the cost for their children’s college education”
 Prethink : what if they could save that money and get returns that would a net positive by the time the child goes to college? What if the tuition got cheaper, so the parent would end up paying more? What if the price stayed the same but inflation rose, so there would actually be net negative?
 Which of the following, if true, is the most appropriate reason for parents not to participate in the program?
 
 (A) The parents are unsure about which public college in the state the child will attend.
 Out of scope – where the child wants to attend is irrelevant from the cost of attending a college.

(B) The amount of money accumulated by putting the prepayment funds in an interest-bearing account today will be greater than the total cost of tuition for any of the public colleges when the child enrolls.
 Matches prethink. Net positive doing something other than what the conclusion says to do. Weakens the conclusion/argument for sure.

(C) The annual cost of tuition at the state’s public colleges is expected to increase at a faster rate than the annual increase in the cost of living.
 Out of scope – we don’t care about the relative increase in the rate for the annual cost of tuition to that of the cost of living. If anything though, as a stretch, this could strengthen. Increased costs in the future = smarter to invest now when it’s cheaper.

(D) Some of the state’s public colleges are contemplating large increases in tuition next year.
 Opposite trap – strengthener. Increased costs in the future = smarter to invest now when it’s cheaper.

(E) The prepayment plan would not cover the cost of room and board at any of the state’s public colleges.
 Out of scope – We don’t care about the cost of room and board. The program is about “children’s future college TUITION.” And the conclusion is about parents participating IN THE PROGRAM (as a means of decreasing college cost)

CEdward · Answer

A program instituted in a particular state allows parents to prepay their children’s future college tuition at current rates. The program then pays the tuition annually for the child at any of the state’s public colleges in which the child enrolls. Parents should participate in the program as a means of decreasing the cost for their children’s college education.

Which of the following, if true, is the most appropriate reason for parents not to participate in the program?

(A) The parents are unsure about which public college in the state the child will attend. X

Uncertainty is not a strong enough reason for not wanting to participate in the program.

(B) The amount of money accumulated by putting the prepayment funds in an interest-bearing
account today will be greater than the total cost of tuition for any of the pubic colleges when the child enrolls.

Correct. Double-win for the families. Admission to a program and a few extra dollars. No-brainer.

(C) The annual cost of tuition at the state’s pubic colleges is expected to increase at a faster rate than the annual increase in the cost of living. X

This gives the parents a reason to participate.

(D) Some of the state’s public colleges are contemplating large increases in tuition next year. X

This gives the parents a reason to participate.

(E) The prepayment plan would not cover the cost of room and board at any of the state’s public colleges. X

Does this necessarily mean a parent would not participate? No. If a family can still rid some costs, then it would still be a valid reason to take part.

MBAcandidate1005 · Answer

A program instituted in a particular state allows parents to prepay their children’s future college tuition at current rates. The program then pays the tuition annually for the child at any of the state’s public colleges in which the child enrolls. Parents should participate in the program as a means of decreasing the cost for their children’s college education.

Which of the following, if true, is the most appropriate reason for parents not to participate in the program?

(A) The parents are unsure about which public college in the state the child will attend.

(B) The amount of money accumulated by putting the prepayment funds in an interest-bearing
account today will be greater than the total cost of tuition for any of the pubic colleges when the child enrolls.

(C) The annual cost of tuition at the state’s pubic colleges is expected to increase at a faster rate than the annual increase in the cost of living.

(D) Some of the state’s public colleges are contemplating large increases in tuition next year.

(E) The prepayment plan would not cover the cost of room and board at any of the state’s public colleges.

Gist of the passage is that program allows to prepay for the program. However we have to come up with a reason why as a parent you should not take part in this program. Before looking at options the thought of inflation and value of money invested elsewhere comes to mind naturally. But that is just one way to attack the program so lets look at options:
A) Even if parents are unsure which college their child may go to, the prepayment program could be beneficial as the money for tuition can be used for any of those possible colleges.

B) If I coul put the same amount of money as the tuition in an interest payment funds and the money accumulated till my child has to go to college will naturally be greater than the total cost of tuition then why would I prepay. I would rather just accumulate the money and pay later when needed. This clearly attacks the program so lets eliminate other options

C) Rate of cost of tuition increase is greater than rate of increase of cost of living. This would be a plus for the program as I can prepay now at a certain value and in future that money is frozen so the value will not diminish and the program will bear the additional costs due to change in value. eliminate

D) Increases in tuition does not really affect the conclusion in my opinion as whatever the amount may be the prepayment amount will be change to that. does not affect in any way

E) This option also does not attack the problem in terms of the money aspect of tuition cost. It brings in additional costs not covered in the program however, our jobs to solely focus on why the parents should opt out of this program. Out of the scope of conclusion.

stackskillz · Answer

Here's the quick solution I came up with:

Conc: Parents should participate -> decrease the cost of their children's college ed.

(A)  The parents are unsure about which public college in the state the child will attend -  This tells us that parents are not certain about which college their child might attend. Now, whether the parents are certain about the future college of their children or not, participating in the program can still help the parents. So this doesn't look like it weakens the conclusion.  Drop

(B)  The amount of money accumulated by putting the prepayment funds in an interest-bearing account today will be greater than the total cost of tuition for any of the public colleges when the child enrolls -  This answers the question - "Is it necessary to participate in the program?", i.e., is there an alternative better way to do the same. Keep in mind, this doesn't attack the premise that parents who do this can't participate, but states that rather parents who do this need not participate. The reasoning that's weakened here is  "parents should participate ".  Keep

(C) The annual cost of tuition at the state’s public colleges is expected to increase at a faster rate than the annual increase in the cost of living.

(D)  Some of the state’s public colleges are contemplating large increases in tuition next year.  - Same as  C . Now we don't know if the increases will keep happening, but this does suggest we can expect an increase going forward year after year. Even if it doesn't suggest that, it doesn't weaken the conclusion and has no impact at worst.  Drop

(E)  The prepayment plan would not cover the cost of room and board at any of the state’s public colleges.  - The prepayment plan can still cover or reduce the cost of enrollment in college by reducing the tuition or other ways. What this option says can co-exist with the conclusion above. This option has no impact.  Drop

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A program instituted in a particular state allows parents to prepay

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