Recent revenue shortfalls in a Midwestern state led to a reduction in the state budget for higher education. To offset the reduction, the largest state university proposed a 25% tuition increase. It was determined that such an increase was needed to simply compensate for the lost support from the state. Random samples of 50 freshmen, 50 sophomores, 50 juniors, and 50 seniors from the university were asked whether or not they were strongly opposed to the increase, given that it was the minimum increase necessary to maintain the university's budget at current levels. The results are given in the following table:
Year in school
Opinion Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior
Strongly opposed 39 36 29 18
Not strongly opposed 11 14 21 32
At the 5% significance level, what is the largest value the chi-square statistic could be, before rejecting the null hypothesis?
A. 7.81
B. 9.25
C. 9.49
D. 16.92