For-profit colleges serve far fewer students than either public or private non-profit colleges. At the same time, relative to non-profit colleges, for-profit colleges draw a disproportionate share of federal and state financial aid, such as tuition grants and guaranteed loans, for their students. It must be, then, that for-profit colleges enroll a greater proportion of financially disadvantaged students than do non-profit colleges. In assessing the argument above, it would be most useful to compare A the proportion of financially disadvantaged students served by public and private non-profit colleges B the extent to which for-profit and non-profit colleges engage in fraudulent practices in helping their students obtain unneeded federal and state financial aid C the number of students receiving federal and state financial aid at for-profit colleges and non-profit colleges D the quality of education received by financially disadvantaged students at for-profit colleges and non-profit colleges E the rates of default on loan repayments among graduates of for-profit and non-profit colleges

Last visit was: 19 Nov 2025, 23:20

It is currently 19 Nov 2025, 23:20

Toolkit

Critical Reasoning (CR)

GMAT Club Daily Prep

Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.

Go to My Error Log Learn more

Request Expert Reply

Confirm Cancel

Nov 20
UCR MBA Impact - Live Q&A with UCR AdCom & Student
07:30 AM PST
-
08:30 AM PST
Learn what truly sets the UC Riverside MBA apart and how it helps in your professional growth
Nov 22
GMAT RC Masterclass
11:00 AM IST
-
01:00 PM IST
Do RC/MSR passages scare you? e-GMAT is conducting a masterclass to help you learn – Learn effective reading strategies Tackle difficult RC & MSR with confidence Excel in timed test environment
Nov 23
Conquer Algebra on the GMAT Focus Edition
11:00 AM IST
-
01:00 PM IST
Attend this free GMAT Algebra Webinar and learn how to master the most challenging Inequalities and Absolute Value problems with ease.
Nov 25
Try OnDemand GMAT Masterclass
10:00 AM EST
-
11:00 AM EST
Prefer video-based learning? The Target Test Prep OnDemand course is a one-of-a-kind video masterclass featuring 400 hours of lecture-style teaching by Scott Woodbury-Stewart, founder of Target Test Prep and one of the most accomplished GMAT instructors.

Back to Forum

Create Topic

For-profit colleges serve far fewer students than either public or pri

1 2

DmitryFarber

Manhattan Prep Instructor

Joined: 22 Mar 2011

Last visit: 08 Nov 2025

Posts: 3,020

Own Kudos:

8,564

Given Kudos: 57

Expert

Expert reply

GMAT Focus 1: 745 Q86 V90 DI85 Verified score

Posts: 3,020

Kudos: 8,564

19 Jul 2025, 23:15

Kudos

Bookmarks

Sadly, AI's accuracy is nowhere near 99.9% yet. But more importantly, before citing AI, read the existing discussion. As discussed above, C is irrelevant because it only addresses number, and therefore doesn't allow us to conclude anything about proportion. Official or not, this is a very common GMAT trap in both quant and verbal. Without totals to compare them to, the raw numbers of students receiving aid don't tell us anything at all.

BinodBhai

Acc to AI (which I believe is 99.9% of the times correct) the answer is C and even I feel its better.. since its not even official question.. I will debate and put up my argument below:

Quote:

C) the number of students receiving federal and state financial aid at for-profit colleges and non-profit colleges

This option directly addresses the relationship between the aid drawn and the number of students receiving aid.

If (C) shows that a much larger number of students at for-profit colleges receive aid (despite fewer total students), it would support the idea that a higher proportion of their student body is financially disadvantaged (assuming aid is primarily for the disadvantaged).

However, if (C) shows that the number of students receiving aid is actually smaller at for-profit colleges, then the "disproportionate share of aid" mentioned in the premise must mean that each student at a for-profit college receives a much larger amount of aid. If this were true, it would weaken the conclusion. A smaller number of students getting a large amount of aid doesn't necessarily mean a higher proportion of their overall student body is disadvantaged. It could mean that the aid structure itself is different.

For-profit colleges have high fees, what if just 1-2 students ate up most of the budget?