In defending the Hyperion School of Journalism from charges that its program is of little or no value to its students...

Mehran on November 10, 2018

Hi @Homework, thanks for your post. This stimulus presents us with an argument: the conclusion is the defense of the Hyperion School of Journalism provided y the dean, i.e., that "65 percent of [the school's] graduates went on to internships or jobs in print or broadcast journalism."

The question stem asks us to identify the answer choice that weakens ("undermines") the dean's defense.

Answer choice (A) does weaken this defense. Think about it this way: the dean of the school is implying that the Hyperion School leads to (causes) professional success in print or broadcast journalism, right? (Since 65% of the school's graduates get internships or jobs).

But answer choice (A) calls this into doubt: if the students came from the profession, then their post-graduation ability to get a job or internship does not establish that the degree from Hyperion has value. Why? Because a student who already had a job in journalism *before* going to Hyperion presumably went to the school in order to achieve something she had not already achieved (i.e., an improvement in journalism skills, not a job placement).

Hope this helps. Please let us know if you have any additional questions.