It is pointing out that having tons of small classes few people take is a way to drive down the average while keeping the actual experience of students roughly the same. So Harvard might have, say, many, many senior- level small classes, but could still have all of the intro and even sophomore / junior level classes, which are half of each student’s experience, be in huge impersonal classes.
...but that doesn’t match what I’ve heard about the student experience, so IMO it’s unlikely to be the explanation.
It is pointing out that having tons of small classes few people take is a way to drive down the average while keeping the actual experience of students roughly the same. So Harvard might have, say, many, many senior- level small classes, but could still have all of the intro and even sophomore / junior level classes, which are half of each student’s experience, be in huge impersonal classes.
...but that doesn’t match what I’ve heard about the student experience, so IMO it’s unlikely to be the explanation.