The College Fix

Did the approval of a new honor code make a difference in the wildly different results on self-reported cheating between class years at Harvard?

Probably not.

The Harvard Crimson‘s senior survey found that 17 percent of Harvard seniors said they cheated while at Harvard. Plus:

Just 15 percent of all respondents admitted to cheating on a homework assignment or a problem set—less than half of the rate reported in a similar survey of the Class of 2013. …

Seniors were much more likely to suspect cheating among their peers than to admit to cheating themselves. On average, surveyed seniors guessed that 53 percent of the class had cheated on a homework assignment or a problem set, 32 percent on a paper or take-home exam, and 14 percent on an in-class exam.

Seniors weren’t particularly moved by approval this spring of a first-ever honor code, which won’t take effect for another year:

While the newly approved honor code will go into effect long after the Class of 2014 has left Harvard, just 12 percent of surveyed seniors said an honor code would have changed the way they approached academic integrity during their time as Harvard students.

The survey included 758 people, nearly half the graduating class, though not all answered every question, The Crimson said. The school suffered through a major cheating scandal two years ago.

There’s much more in the survey results, including non-straight students (15 percent of the class), non-theists (a whopping 38 percent), and males who regularly consume porn (48 percent), here.

h/t Campus Reform

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