Direction for the following 2 (two) items: Read the following two passages and answer the items (71-72) that follow. Your answers to these items should be based on the passages only.

The best universities like Harvard and MIT, despite having the luxury of having some truly excellent teachers on their payroll, are increasingly embracing the “flipped classroom” format, where students listen to video lectures at home, and spend class time applying their knowledge, solving problems, discussing examples, etc. Professors guide that discussion and fill in wherever necessary, explaining those bits that seem to be eluding the students and throwing in advanced ideas that happen to be topical. These universities have made their video lectures available free for anyone in the world. They are also encouraging colleges and universities all over the world to integrate these online courses into their own pedagogy, picking the pieces that are appropriate for their needs and building a package around them.

Which one of the following statements best reflects the central idea of the passage given above?

The correct answer is: Availability of higher education can be made easier and cheaper without diluting the content.

Step-by-Step Explanation:

1. Analyze the Passage:
The passage describes how premier universities like Harvard and MIT are using the "flipped classroom" model—where top-quality video lectures are made available online for free globally. Other institutions can integrate these high-quality resources into their own teaching programs.

2. Evaluate the Central Idea:
By making top-tier lecture videos freely available worldwide, higher education of high quality ("without diluting the content") becomes accessible to anyone, anywhere, thereby making it easier and far more affordable ("easier and cheaper").

3. Evaluate the Options:
- Option 1: The passage does not claim online mode is strictly better than conventional methods; rather, it promotes a hybrid "flipped" approach.
- Option 2: Directly captures the core message: top-quality higher education content is distributed widely and affordably.
- Option 3: Focuses on not investing in infrastructure, which is an overgeneralization not stated in the passage.
- Option 4: Mentions private sector and coaching institutes, which are outside the scope of the passage.

Hence, the statement that best reflects the central idea of the passage is Availability of higher education can be made easier and cheaper without diluting the content.