Search Page

Five universities in the United States agreed to settle a lawsuit accusing them of colluding on financial aid and admissions violations, according to new court filings. Yale, Columbia, Duke, Brown and Emory universities will pay a combined US$104.5 million to settle their portions of the case, which was brought by five former students against more than a dozen schools. The suit alleges the universities violated antitrust law when they ignored their pledge to not weigh a student’s ability to pay tuition fees when considering whether or not to accept, a practice referred to as ‘need-blind’ admission.

Students can utilize chatbots like ChatGPT to generate text, with nearly 90% admitting to doing so in one survey. However, this form of plagiarism, known as ghostwriting, is becoming more detectable as Artificial Intelligence-powered tools like Turnitin and iThenticate improve their ability to identify copied content. Some students attempt to evade detection by using text-spinning programs to paraphrase plagiarized material, but this has led to an ongoing "arms race" between cheaters and detection methods.

The UNDP and Saudi Arabia's Nazaha launched a global initiative to measure corruption during the 10th UN Convention Against Corruption session. Spanning 2023-2027, it aims to develop evidence-based indicators with a multi-stakeholder approach, supported by Saudi Arabia. The partnership seeks to track progress, offer policy recommendations, and assist countries in achieving anti-corruption goals linked to SDG 16. It addresses data gaps identified in the Global Progress Report on SDG 16.

In the book "Corruption in Higher Education: Global Challenges and Responses," 34 experts shed light on various corruption issues in higher education: contract cheating and outsourcing assignments; ambivalent hiring processes; fake universities that take various forms, from profit-driven schemes to students buying degrees without fulfilling obligations; corruption research involves scholars, administrators, and agencies, united against academic corruption. Future steps include integrity theory development, examining secondary education's impact, leveraging technology, avoiding social group stigmatization, and fostering global cooperation.

The Fair College Admissions for Students Act aims to end legacy admissions in universities, removing preferential treatment for applicants with ties to the school. This move is seen as an effort to create fairer college admission practices by addressing the tradition's benefit to affluent white individuals and the elite school system's reliance on such practices. The bill's introduction follows the Supreme Court's recent decision to end affirmative action, which considered race among factors in student admissions.

Fake Degrees and Fraudulent Credentials in Higher Education brings together contributions from authors in different fields and parts of the world, offering an overview of various aspects of academic fraud and highlighting the erosion of trust in academia and academics that systematically accompanies such cases. In the first chapter of the book on contract cheating and paper mills, we learn that the worldwide fake degree industry has grown from US$1 billion in 2015 to US$22 billion in 2022. Experts estimate that 4.7 billion people hold or have held fake diplomas.

According to the State Chancellor's Office, 20% of applications for California community colleges are fraudulent. A radiation oncologist at UC Davis is one of the thousands who have had their identity stolen to create fraudulent student applications with the intention to steal federal aid, a practice that has resulted in an unprecedented influx of ghost students. City College of San Francisco reported 59 fraudulent students and has identified 29 ghost students who have received $22,418 to date.

20 Massey University students allegedly caught using ChatGPT to cheat have claimed amnesty in exchange for their confessions. The teaching team offered an amnesty deadline and those who resubmitted their work would receive a maximum mark of 50%. For those who didn’t, a confirmed breach can result in a mark of zero for the assessment or a failure for the whole course.

A survey of 125 university librarians across the US has discovered differing opinions on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in higher education. Looking into the ethics of AI use, the report said that 8% of librarians stated a definitive ‘yes’ when asked if they believe it is cheating if students use AI products for research, while 42% felt this to be somewhat true. Major concerns include cheating, eliminating or reducing critical thinking and originality, and replacing human jobs.

Questions about using artificial intelligence go further than cheating on exams or generating text for scientific articles. They concern academic values the integrity of academic work, but also the exploration of the changing relationship between humans and machines. A recent statement by the European University Association, ChatGPT raises issues for universities in terms of updating policies to accommodate such tools while preserving recognition of course work and authentic assessment.