Dive Summary:
- Several sites have appeared recently offering to take a student's entire online course for them--assignments, quizzes, and tests included--for a fee, appealing to online students who may be busy or struggling in a subject they're not good at or interested in.
- Prices and services offered vary from site to site, ranging from $95 for an individual essay to as much as $900 for an entire course, and most of the sites promise at least a B.
- Concerns about online cheating aren't new and many institutions have systems in place to try to prevent such fraud, but the presence of these sites has administrators concerned about the existence of an "online education black market."
From the article:
The growth of the online education market appears to have spun off another, more surreptitious market - one that goes beyond the paper-writing services long available to less than honest students - and online educators are taking note. A handful of websites have sprung up recently offering to take a student's entire online class for them, handling assignments, quizzes, and tests, for a fee. These sites make an appeal to the busy online student, struggling through a class they're not good at or not interested in. ...