Opponents of free university-education in the country feel that alloca...
Opponents of free university-education in the country feel that allocating resources to providing free post-high school education would be wastage of the tax-payers money. They claim that no significant economic benefit will be realized from the same since most people with degrees will likely do such jobs in the country for which they are over-qualified and that the most bright and academically oriented people from economically underprivileged backgrounds do anyway benefit from the various scholarships already in place by the government.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the opponents’ argument is based?
Argument Analysis
Pre-Thinking
Conclusion Clarification
The question stem requires us to find a fundamental assumption made by the opponents of free university-education. These opponents conclude that allocating resources to providing free post-high school education would be wastage of the tax-payers money.
Pre-Thinking Approach
To pre-think assumptions, we will falsify the conclusion / intermediate conclusion (IC) or look for scenarios under which they are no longer valid even when the given premises are true. The assumption then will be that such conditions don’t exist.
Linkage #1: Most people with degrees will likely do such jobs in the country for which they are over-qualified.
- Falsification condition: What if, jobs requiring UE grow as more people start getting university degrees? Then the IC won’t be valid that there will be no significant EB from FUE. Accordingly, the critics assume that:
- Assumption 1: Jobs requiring UE won’t grow significantly enough to absorb the increase in the number of university graduates.
Linkage #2: No significant EB from FUE
- Falsification condition: What if, even though there is no significant EB from FUE, there are other benefits that justify the expenditure on free post-high school education? TP money might be well spent to obtain these benefits. Then the conclusion won’t be valid that allocating resources in the stated fashion will be a waste of TP money.
- Assumption 2: There are no other important benefits that can over-ride the lack of a significant economic benefit in determining whether the TP money has been well-spent.
With this understanding in mind, let’s take a look at the option statements.
Answer Choices
A
The money that the government currently collects in taxes is not sufficient to finance free- university education in the country.
Incorrect - Irrelevant
The argument isn’t concerned with whether there is sufficient money to fund FUE, but with whether it’s a waste to fund FUE if money is available to do so.
B
As the free university-education program is implemented, the economy will not generate enough jobs commensurate with the educational level of the graduates.
Correct
This choice is written along the lines of our pre-thinking per Linkage #1, Assumption 1.
C
The most bright and academically oriented people normally do not have the economic means to pursue university education.
Incorrect - Irrelevant
The argument doesn’t talk about all the people who fall in the most bright and academically oriented group. It talks about only the most bright and AO people from EUB.
D
Currently, there is a shortage of suitable jobs in the country for people with university level education.
Incorrect - Irrelevant
The argument only mentions that most people with degrees will be overqualified for jobs in the future if FUE is provided. It doesn’t comment about the current status.
E
Many people who obtain degrees after the free university-education program is implemented will not choose to work within the country.
Incorrect - Opposite
The opponents predict that most people with degree will likely do jobs inside the country. So, this information goes against their prediction.