[catjam25]

> When I was younger I used to very anti-cheating, but I realized with time that was a foolish principle to hold on to. The game is rigged and there is no shame it taking short cuts. The university is trying to exploit you the student so why would you not return the favor and seek to exploit the system whenever you can?

Two wrongs don't make a right. Yes the university system has its issues, especially through the COVID pandemic. But that does not justify this behavior.

> Ignore the cheaters and spend those extra hours chatting one-on-one with the students that actually give a shit

Actions have consequences. You can't just ignore them.

[goelbab]

You can definitely ignore them if you think that ignoring them and putting work elsewhere is a net benefit to everyone. Not every action merits a response.

[catjam25]

People who cheat in university deserve consequences.

[Gtex555]

I agree, I'm not against cheating but high risk high reward. If you're dumb enough to include the lecturer in the very group chat you cheat in then you deserve to fail. The class was stupid to even think they could cheat as a whole class, its like robbing a liquor store with 80 accomplices. What you do is you find a small group of individuals you trust and you cheat together secretly and given how small that group is likely to be you're all forced to learn something.

[AngryData]

For the amount of money most universities cost, it would be stupid and irresponsible not to cheat and risk failing a class. Struggling and failing legitimately has no upsides and only downsides, big financial downsides, along with possibly a delayed or no graduation if it cuts their funding.

I would agree with your position if college was either extremely cheap or free. But as a money making endeavor it serves more as a roadblock to prosperity or in numerous other cases a potential pit of debt.

[dpbriggs]

Would you support an alternative scheme where cheaters just receive the degree directly after the offer? It would save four years.

[Sirened]

Ah but there's still a huge inefficiency here! Why bother with the offer? Just let them include their four years of tuition to $65 application fee and make the rest of the application optional. You wouldn't want them to waste all that time writing bullshit essays about their passion for their major if they're not going to study it anyways :)

Supporting a "benign neglect" model of cheating is how you get a very expensive degree mill. The perception of others that your institution is a degree mill both degrades the value of those who already graduated with a degree from there and it devalues the research put out by the staff ("oh, look at this paper that came out of that sham university down the road").

[catjam25]

It’s a sad reflection of our societies failures to provide higher education as a right. Either way, that doesn’t justify cheating.

[tomnipotent]

You do realize that universities are just businesses?

[catjam25]

And that justifies cheating how?