Educational policy analyst: To improve the long-term economic benefits

Question

Educational policy analyst: To improve the long-term economic benefits that our country’s universities provide to their students, the government should provide subsidies enabling the universities to hire more academic staff. Hiring more academic staff would allow smaller class sizes. Statistically, university students in smaller classes tend to receive higher grades than those in larger classes. And on average, a student who earns higher grades in university classes tends to have a higher salary after graduation than a student who earns lower grades. Thus, hiring more academic staff nationwide should improve the economic well-being of graduates nationwide.

Consider the incomplete statement:

According to the analyst’s argument, students’ 1 is bolstered by their 2 .

Select for 1 and 2 the options that complete the statement in the manner that most accurately reflects the given information. Make only two selections, one in each column.

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ID: 100451

Consider the incomplete statement:

According to the analyst’s argument, students’    1    is bolstered by their    2   .

Select for  1  and  2  the options that complete the statement in the manner that most accurately reflects the given information. Make only two selections, one in each column.

ID: 100451

Apt0810 · Answer

According to the analyst’s argument, students’ economic wellbeing after graduating from university is bolstered by their tendency to earn higher grades in university classes , since in the passage it's written that "on average, a student who earns higher grades in university classes tends to have a higher salary after graduation than a student who earns lower grades" and higher salary means good economic well being which is by hiring new academic staff

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yashikaaggarwal · Answer

Bolstered means getting support.

The question asked. Which supported (2) which (1) as per the given passage.

The end results are often what which is been supported by factors because we know that it definitely worked. For ex- rain in tropical region supported better cultivation.
Cultivation is the end result supported by rain.
So statement 1 has to be an end result..
The end result as per the passage is the economic well being life style one incurs after graduation.

1) tendency to earn higher grades in university classes

2) economic wellbeing after graduating from university (the end result)

3) being in larger than average university classes

4) receiving better education overall

5) learning from a greater number of academic staff

So, Statement 1 is economic wellbeing after graduating from university

Now what supported this?
=> learning from greater no. Of academic staff. It can be. But how will his direct benefit is connected with academic staff. So no its not the support system.

=> receiving better education, yes it can be a point but still not the direct support which on needed for a well off economic condition.

=> being in larger class, but what are the chances that it will help all for sure?

=> tendency to earn higher grades in university classes, it is the support needed for a better life Style after graduation as stated in passage too. People need good marks to get graduate, academic staff, larger classes all are secondary support. So,this is providing the direct support.

Statement 2 is tendency to earn higher grades in university classes

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mSKR · Answer

Bolstered statement 1 by statement 2

->>Statement 1 is supported by statement 2
>Means statement2 support statemnent1
Means st2--> sta1

(Hiring more academic staff(x) smaller class sizes(y)receive higher grades(z) economic wellbeing of graduates (w)
Statmenet 2: receive higher grades  statement1: economic well being i
>>economic well being is supported by tendency to earn higher grades in university classes

A: Supported statement = 2(tendency to earn higher grades in university classes) 
B::  conclusion: outcome --> economic well being of graduates )= 1 
C: weaken
D: not mentioned
E: not mentioned

sameerm22 · Answer

At first, I got lost and couldn't think of systematic approach of which statement to start with. You suggested a good way to think about the problem. It's essentially a "Cause and Effect" type of problem. Classifying the end statement (effect) first and then finding Cause... is good approach.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

Select for 1 and 2 the options that complete the statement in the manner that most accurately reflects the given information. Make only two selections, one in each column.

Explanation

We are asked to complete the statement so that it is an accurate reflection of the information provided in the educational policy analyst’s argument.

The educational policy analyst asserts that hiring more academic staff would allow smaller class sizes, and that on average, a student who earns higher grades in university classes tends to have a higher salary after graduation than a student who earns lower grades. This leads the analyst to conclude that hiring more academic staff would improve the economic wellbeing of graduates nationwide. Given this conclusion in conjunction with the analyst’s other assertions, according to the analyst’s argument, students’ economic wellbeing after graduation from university is bolstered by their tendency to earn higher grades in university classes.

The analyst makes no claims about the quality of education overall or the number of academic staff students learn from. Furthermore, the only implication with respect to larger university class sizes is that they would likely not bolster either grades or salaries. Therefore, no other pair of options completes the statement so that it is an accurate reflection of the information provided.

Answer:

1: economic wellbeing after graduating from university
2: tendency to earn higher grades in university classes

RenB · Answer

Hi,

Why can't the combination be 1-A and 2-E?

Test grades and smaller classes are related.

Doesnt smaller class imply learning from more academic staff?

mehul1407 · Answer

Explanation:
We are asked to complete the statement so that it is an accurate reflection of the information provided in the educational policy analyst's argument.

The educational policy analyst asserts that hiring more academic staff would allow smaller class sizes, and that on average, a student who earns higher grades in university classes tends to have a higher salary after graduation than a student who earns lower grades. This leads the analyst to conclude that hiring more academic staff would improve the economic wellbeing of graduates nationwide. Given this conclusion in conjunction with the analyst's other assertions, according to the analyst's argument, students' economic wellbeing after graduation from university is bolstered by their tendency to earn higher grades in university classes.

The analyst makes no claims about the quality of education overall or the number of academic staff students learn from. Furthermore, the only implication with respect to larger university class sizes is that they would likely not bolster either grades or salaries. Therefore, no other pair of options completes the statement so that it is an accurate reflection of the information provided.

A. Evaluate

The correct answer is economic wellbeing after graduating from university.

B. Evaluate

The correct answer is tendency to earn higher grades in university classes.

AnishPassi · Answer

No.

‘Smaller classes’ means fewer students in a class. That doesn’t mean that students are taking more courses or are learning from more teachers.

Say a particular course was taught by one teacher.
50 students, 1 teacher.

And then say another teacher is added for that course.

Now the 50 students would be split into two groups, and each teacher will handle one group each. That's a smaller class.

However, each student will still learn from one teacher.

Makes sense?

agrasan · Answer

Hi experts  KarishmaB   GMATNinja   MartyMurray

Could you please explain why  "   learning from a greater number of academic staff"  is not correct for the statement-2?

My reasoning is that the conclusion says  " hiring more academic staff nationwide  should improve the economic well-being of graduates nationwide."  so hiring more staff means students are learning more from higher number of staff than before, thus, makes sense as a suitable candidate for the statement-2.

Please let me know if I am faltering somewhere.

KarishmaB · Answer

The argument says that hire more staff so that classroom size is smaller. So if each class has 100 students right now, hire more staff so that each class has 50 students. 1 student is learning from 1 faculty only - just that there are fewer students in the class. The argument does not imply that each student will learn from more faculty members.

jdoe123 · Answer

Hi,

I still struggle with the explanation of this solution.

Based on the passage, the logic flow is as such:

Hire more staff --> Smaller class size --> Higher grades --> Higher salary
Therefore, hiring more staff --> higher economic wellbeing

1. How do we make the link that Higher Salary --> Higher economic wellbeing?
2. Shouldnt it be more staff --> better economic wellbeing?

I can see from @karishmaB's post that maybe "learning from greater number of staff" isnt' the same as "hiring more staff.

But I still don't see the link between the correct answer and how salary --> wellbeing from the passage. Pls help

Bunuel · Answer

Good question.

The link between higher salary and higher economic well-being is implicit: economic well-being refers to financial prosperity or stability, which directly depends on income. So, when the passage says that students with higher grades  tend  to earn higher salaries, it’s reasonable to interpret that as improving their economic well-being. 
 The argument’s logical chain is about  causation through grades , not directly through the number of staff. “Hiring more staff” enables smaller classes, which statistically improve grades, and  those grades  are linked to higher salaries (and therefore better economic well-being). So, the answer connects the final outcome (economic well-being) to the intermediate cause (earning higher grades), not directly to the hiring of staff.

jdoe123 · Answer

Thanks for replying.

I can accept the implicit link between salary & economic wellbeing.

But in the logic chain, should it then be a "rule of thumb" that if 1 --> 2 --> 3 --> 4, it isn't correct that 1 --> 4?

That seems to be the logic i applied, 1 --> 4 (indirectly), as that was also the argument, but seems it is faulty

egmat · Answer

jdoe123  You're absolutely right that logically, if  1 → 2 → 3 → 4 , then we can infer  1 → 4 . Your logical reasoning is sound. However, this question asks what  "according to the analyst's argument"  is bolstered, which means we need to identify what the argument  explicitly and directly states , not what can be indirectly inferred through a chain.

Let's map the explicit links in the argument:

More staff → smaller classes (stated) 
 Smaller classes → higher grades (stated)  
 Higher grades → higher salary/economic wellbeing (stated)

The most direct link explicitly discussed is:  "a student who earns higher grades in university classes tends to have a higher salary after graduation"

This directly supports:
 
  1  = economic wellbeing after graduating from university 
  2  = tendency to earn higher grades in university classes

If you selected something like "economic wellbeing is bolstered by learning from more academic staff," you're making a valid logical inference, but you're connecting two points that are several steps apart in the argument chain. The argument never directly discusses the relationship between staff numbers and economic wellbeing - that connection requires you to chain multiple intermediate steps.

Educational policy analyst: To improve the long-term economic benefits

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1	2	Statements
		tendency to earn higher grades in university classes
		economic wellbeing after graduating from university
		being in larger than average university classes
		receiving better education overall
		learning from a greater number of academic staff

GMAT Two-part Analysis (TPA) Questions

Educational policy analyst: To improve the long-term economic benefits

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My Rewards