Community colleges can spend more on student services than can either

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Conclusion: It has to be C
Premise. Negated option E and it turns out to be strengthener and not a weakener

Assumption: 1. The other 3 options must be wrong. 2. When you negate and the resulting statement is a weakener, then the original statement must be an assumption. 3. There is no more than 1 correct answer in the options

 
Premise: Community colleges can apply for the same amount of funds that S and P universities spend.
conclusion: Community colleges can spend more on SS that S or P universities.

IMO:
Option C is correct: S and P universities bear higher payroll costs, so community colleges can apply for higher amount. As a result they can spend more on student services.

Not sure, lets wait for official answer and explaination­

MartyMurray what can be its answer

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What's the right answer? I have choosen "E"

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Solution C
This is necessary assumption because only if Private and state universities spend more on payroll then community colleges can use equivalent funds to provide better student services, given that all 3 have same budget if that was not the case we cannot say for sure that community colleges have funds for better student services.
hope this makes sense, thanks

C had to be the right answer because the argument in the question takes the assumption that state and private universities spend more on payroll whereas community colleges pay less and can divert the money to student services.

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KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Identify the Question Type:

This question asks what unstated assumption the argument depends on, which indicates that this is an Assumption question. Therefore, we must first locate the conclusion and evidence for the argument.

Untangle the Stimulus:

The keyword since is an evidence keyword. What comes before since is the conclusion, and what follows since is evidence. So the conclusion that community colleges have more money to spend on student services is justified by the evidence that universities spend that money on payroll.

Predict the Answer:

We must now identify the link between the conclusion (community colleges have more money to spend on student services) and the evidence (universities must spend that money on payroll). Look for information that is not explicitly stated but is needed to make the argument succeed. The conclusion is justified by adding this unstated assumption: State and private universities spend more on employee payroll than community colleges.

Evaluate the Choices:

Answer Choice (C) states that the other universities incur higher payroll costs than community colleges, which matches our prediction. This provides the information that helps fill the gap in the argument, so Answer Choice (C) is correct.

Choice (A) includes an irrelevant comparison between state universities and private universities.

Choice (B) would seem to weaken the conclusion of the argument, rather than support it as a good assumption must.

Choice (D) is a recommendation, not an assumption on which the argument is based.

Choice (E) is irrelevant. It’s not important whether payroll is the single largest expenditure, or the second largest, or only a minor expenditure. What matters is how much community colleges pay for payroll relative to universities.­