Student Union
- By Pete Musto
How Many College Students Admit to Cheating?
Guess how many college students cheat.
If you thought, “most of them,” you’d get an A on that test.
About 68 percent of students polled admitted to cheating at least once, according to a survey of more than 71,000 students by the International Center for Academic Integrity (ICAI) in 2015.
Eric Anderman has researched why and how students cheat for more than 20 years. His most recent research, published in September, asked more than 400 students at two large American research universities about cheating.
Anderman says students think it’s OK to cheat when they don’t like the class.And that usually means math and science classes.
Anderman, chair of the department of educational studies at the Ohio State University in Columbus, says students might dislike a class because of the material or the instructor. Either way, professors can design their classes to reduce a student’s desire to cheat, he said.Cheating happens less in classes that focus on learning rather than memorizing, he says.
“If you think about it, it makes logical sense if a class is set up so that you have to demonstrate mastery ... of the content,” he says.“Cheating’s not going to buy you anything.”
When a student goes to class, and all they hear about is testing, “If you don’t do well on the test, you’ll never move on to the second level,” he says, “They cheat more often.”
Instead, if a professor administers a math test, she or he should avoid testing memorized formulas.Students might be so worried about memorizing that they resort to cheating to succeed.And the more they cheat, the more their learning will weaken, Anderman says.
The professor should provide the formulas, and test whether students know how to use them to solve complex problems.In the real world, many professionals use computer programs that have such formulas stored in them, Alderman said.
David Rettinger, associate professor of psychology at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia, says cheating is so difficult to prevent, in part, because of the examples students see in the world around them.
“Cheating is deeply ingrained in our culture,” Rettinger says.“And when students look to politics, they look to business, and ... they see dishonesty being rewarded, it’s very difficult for those of us in higher education to make the argument that they should do things the right way.”
Rettinger says professors need to clearly explain the rules about cheating. For example, actions including plagiarism or copying the work of others will likely get a student kicked out of any college or university in the United States.
Understanding these rules can often be difficult for international students, Rettinger says. Education in some countries does not put the same importance on individual work or presenting original thoughts in writing projects. So some international students may be cheating without even knowing it.
But most of all, Rettinger argues, professors should explain that finding cheating acceptable can cause problems for students well after college.
“You can, perhaps, get a job by cheating,” Rettinger says, who is also a member of ICAI. “But you’re not going to keep that job. Over time, it’s going to become clear to the people you work with that you don’t really know what you’re doing.
“And so the knowledge that you claim to have isn’t going to present itself, and they’re going to be looking for someone who can actually do the things you say you can do.”
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Trump administration opens antisemitism inquiries at 5 colleges, including Columbia and Berkeley
The Trump administration is opening new investigations into allegations of antisemitism at five U.S. universities including Columbia and the University of California, Berkeley, the Education Department announced Monday.
It's part of President Donald Trump's promise to take a tougher stance against campus antisemitism and deal out harsher penalties than the Biden administration, which settled a flurry of cases with universities in its final weeks. It comes the same day the Justice Department announced a new task force to root out antisemitism on college campuses.
In an order signed last week, Trump called for aggressive action to fight anti-Jewish bias on campuses, including the deportation of foreign students who have participated in pro-Palestinian protests.
Along with Columbia and Berkeley, the department is now investigating the University of Minnesota, Northwestern University and Portland State University. The cases were opened using the department's power to launch its own civil rights reviews, unlike the majority of investigations, which stem from complaints.
Messages seeking comment were left with all five universities.
A statement from the Education Department criticized colleges for tolerating antisemitism after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and a wave of pro-Palestinian protests that followed. It also criticized the Biden administration for negotiating "toothless" resolutions that failed to hold schools accountable.
"Today, the Department is putting universities, colleges, and K-12 schools on notice: this administration will not tolerate continued institutional indifference to the wellbeing of Jewish students on American campuses," said Craig Trainor, the agency's acting assistant secretary for civil rights.
The department didn't provide details about the inquiries or how it decided which schools are being targeted. Presidents of Columbia and Northwestern were among those called to testify on Capitol Hill last year as Republicans sought accountability for allegations of antisemitism. The hearings contributed to the resignation of multiple university presidents, including Columbia's Minouche Shafik.
An October report from House Republicans accused Columbia of failing to punish pro-Palestinian students who took over a campus building, and it called Northwestern's negotiations with student protesters a "stunning capitulation."
House Republicans applauded the new investigations. Representative Tim Walberg, chair of the Education and Workforce Committee, said he was "glad that we finally have an administration who is taking action to protect Jewish students."
Trump's order also calls for a full review of antisemitism complaints filed with the Education Department since Oct. 7, 2023, including pending and resolved cases from the Biden administration. It encourages the Justice Department to take action to enforce civil rights laws.
Last week's order drew backlash from civil rights groups who said it violated First Amendment rights that protect political speech.
The new task force announced Monday includes the Justice and Education departments along with Health and Human Services.
"The Department takes seriously our responsibility to eradicate this hatred wherever it is found," said Leo Terrell, assistant attorney general for civil rights. "The Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism is the first step in giving life to President Trump's renewed commitment to ending anti-Semitism in our schools."
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