Question: Many students complain about the increasing size of classes taught by more popular university professors. They disregard the fact that, though the number of students at the university has doubled over the past eight years, the faculty-to-student ratio has decreased from 1:17 to 1:14. Clearly, the students are misinformed in their complaint.

Which of the following, if true, casts the most doubt on the conclusion of the argument above?

1. Most of the faculty members at the university are part-time instructors or teaching assistants and not full-time, tenure-track professors.
2. Many of the most popular tenured professors commonly teach courses that have ten times the number of students enrolled in an average course.
3. Some other universities in the state have lower faculty-to-student ratios.
4. The average class size at the university varies from department to department.
5. None of the students who complained is willing to pay increased tuition in order to have smaller classes.

Correct Answer: B
Explanation: The students' complaint is limited to "classes taught by more popular" professors. The argument cites evidence about all professors: the professor-student ratio is decreasing. That doesn't tell us much about the students' complaints, because it doesn't tell us what is happening in the popular classes.

Many of the most popular tenured professors commonly teach courses that have ten times the number of students enrolled in an average course.-Correct. This option says that the popular classes are greatly oversubscribed, so the students make a good point. Let’s take a look at the other available choices.

Option A
Most of the faculty members at the university are part-time instructors or teaching assistants and not full-time, tenure-track professors.- Incorrect. The question asks which of the options casts the most doubt on the conclusion of the arguement. This option choice is not a fact.

Option C
Some other universities in the state have lower faculty-to-student ratios.- Incorrect. Irrelevant. The argument doesn’t mention other universities having lower faculty to student ratios. Therefore, incorrect.

Option D
The average class size at the university varies from department to department.- Incorrect. Can not be inferred. This could be true but the students complain about the increasing size of classes taught by popular professors. The faculty-to-student ratio has decreased from 1:17 to 1:14.

Option E
None of the students who complained is willing to pay increased tuition in order to have smaller classes.- Incorrect. Can not be inferred from the passage. Therefore irrelevant.

“Many students complain about the increasing size of classes taught by”- is a GMAT critical reasoning topic. This GMAT critical comes with five options and candidates need to choose the one which is correct. GMAT critical reasoning tests the logical and analytical skills of the candidates.

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