It may be tempting to think that cheating in school isn’t a big deal. After all, doesn’t almost everyone do it? It’s true that surveys regularly show a majority of high school students admitting they’ve cheated. And the numbers are even higher for college students—86% according to one survey.
Still, you’re risking your future by joining these cheaters. The policies in your school or college generally determine the immediate consequences. But basic legal principles govern some aspects of school discipline. And of course, the law determines what happens when students sue schools, claiming that they were unfairly accused or punished for cheating.
Cheating in All Its Guises
There are probably as many ways to cheat as there are students, but some basic types crop up again and again—even if the methods change over time from peering over a classmate’s shoulder to texting an answer under the desk. Examples include:
- copying another student’s answers or homework
- letting another student copy your answers or work
- using or distributing copies of test questions, answers, or answer keys
- secretly using “crib notes” or the Internet to help you answer test questions, whether you’ve printed a cheat sheet on your leg or looked up information on your phone
- having someone else do your homework or take a test for you, or doing the same for another student, and
- changing your answers on a test after it’s been graded and then asking for the grade to be changed.
Some kinds of cheating may not be as obvious. For instance, many colleges and universities have policies that require you to report cheating by other students when you know about it. If you don’t report it, you may be subject to discipline for cheating yourself.
Plagiarism—From Copy-and-Paste to Bespoke Research Papers
Plagiarism—basically passing off someone else’s work as your own—is another form of cheating that becomes more of an issue as students move from middle and high school to college and beyond. Some forms of plagiarism are obvious, like:
- copying text (or even an entire paper) from a website, book, or other source without putting the copied words in quotes and giving credit to the source
- buying, stealing, borrowing, or downloading a paper written by someone else, or
- hiring someone to write a custom paper for you.
But students may not always realize they’re plagiarizing, such as when they:
- paraphrase other people’s work without giving them credit
- borrow or build on someone else’s ideas without giving credit
- follow another author’s organizational structure without credit
- misquote source material
- use incorrect (or made up) information about sources, or
- “recycle” their own work for another class without permission from the teacher.
From Reprimand to Expulsion
Technology continues to give students new tools to cheat, from smartphones and reprogrammed calculators to hard-to-trace artificial intelligence programs. At the same time, it has given teachers and professors sophisticated tools to prevent and detect cheating, including webcams and video monitoring, biometric tools, and software that matches students’ work to huge databases of other documents and school papers. It may feel like a whack-a-mole game to schools, but the reality is that lots of cheaters get caught. What happens then?
The answer to that question depends on lots of factors, including:
- your education level (with more serious repercussions as you progress from middle and high school to college and beyond)
- your disciplinary history
- the policies in your school (and sometimes in your individual teacher’s class), and
- how bad the cheating was (such as involvement in a widespread cheating ring).
Your institution’s student handbook, code of conduct, or honesty code will spell out the rules and the consequences for breaking them. In general, those consequences may include:
- being sent to the principal or detention (in K-12 schools)
- a written reprimand on your record (in college)
- a failing grade or zero on the assignment or test
- a failing grade in the entire course
- loss of privileges like participation in school sports, and
- suspension.
Colleges and universities may also impose other punishments, including:
- dismissal from the course
- academic, disciplinary, or athletic probation
- loss of scholarships, and
- expulsion from the college or university.
Whenever cheating or plagiarism leads to formal disciplinary proceedings, the procedures will depend on the setting. In public K-12 schools, state laws and regulations set the basic rules, while local district policies fill in the details. But all schools must also meet federal standards that protect students’ constitutional rights, including the right to know the charges against them and to defend themselves in a fair hearing. (For more details, see our article on students’ right in disciplinary hearings.)
The Long Shadow of Cheating
Cheating in high school can seriously hurt your chances of getting into college. When you get an “F” for cheating, you may not be able to make up the test or assignment as you would if you received a low grade honestly. Beyond the impact of grades, disciplinary actions are included in your school record. Any colleges or universities where you apply will see your record, and studies have shown that the vast majority use disciplinary information in their admissions decision. (And if admissions officers find plagiarism in your admissions essay, they’re likely to flat-out reject you.) At the college level, a record of cheating or plagiarism not only can hijack your academic career, but it could hurt your chances at getting future internships and jobs.
Speaking to a Lawyer
If you believe you've been unfairly charged with cheating or denied admission to a university program based on a false accusation of plagiarism, it might be a good idea to speak with a lawyer. An attorney who's experienced in education law can help protect your rights in disciplinary proceedings and explain whether you have any legal remedies.