Problems seeing the scope in this answer

[szhou2]

The advent of online education in the first decade of the 21st century was the result of and response to a number of factors that were both internal and external to the field of higher education. Traditional tertiary institutions, especially those that were privately endowed, raised tuition rates far in excess of the rate of inflation. This, in concert with a larger demand for post secondary education for working adults, helped facilitate the introduction of online learning. However, it should be acknowledged that the relative simplicity of using the Internet as a platform, as well as its cost-effectiveness, was seized upon by entrepreneurs in the private sector. Online education is largely in the hands of for-profit companies. The question now becomes whether the democratization of higher education is worth the price of removing it from nonprofit, research-based universities.

 

The passage is concerned primarily with:

A The advent of online education

B adult-oriented educational systems.

C the usefulness of the Internet in postsecondary education

D trends in online education.

E the advantages and disadvantages of online education

 

This is a Kaplan GRE practice question and the answer is D. However I could see C and E as better answers because of the sentence: The question now becomes... because it seems like hes concerned if the advantages are worth the price. I think trends in online education just covers the scope of the facts but not the authors concern so why is the answer D? The book says it explains the whole scope.

 

Help!

[eventualprof]

It looks like you have already done a good job by eliminating responses A and B. To me, it is obvious that answer D refers to everything that the author is talking about in the passage. Answer C can be eliminated since the passage also discusses profit motive in education, something that may or may not involve online education. Choice E is a little more difficult to eliminate. But if I was trying to assign choice E to a passage, I would expect to see that passage address several pros and cons of online education. This passage operates more like a chronological account of the advent and development of online education, which is why I would say that choice D is the BEST response. I hope this helps.