Survey: 10 percent of incoming Harvard students cheated on a test

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Sept. 6 (UPI) -- Ten percent of incoming first-year students at Harvard in Massachusetts have cheated on a test and 42 percent have cheated on homework, an online survey found.

The findings come a year after Harvard went public about the biggest cheating scandal in the university's recent history, The Harvard Crimson reported Thursday.

The survey, conducted by the Crimson in August, found relatively high numbers of acknowledged cheaters among the Class of 2017. Seventeen percent said they had cheated on a paper or take-home assignment.

Cheating was even higher among recruited athletes, the survey said, with 20 percent reporting they had cheated on an exam. The figure was 9 percent among students who were not sought after to play a sport at the school.

Asked if they had cheated on a paper or take-home assignment, 26 percent of recruited athletes said they had. Only 16 percent of non-recruits admitted doing so.

Seven percent of graduating seniors last spring said they had cheated on an exam, paper or take-home at Harvard. A third of those who responded said they had cheated on a homework assignment.

Despite the admissions of cheating, 84 percent of students in the August survey said they expected to prioritize academics at Harvard.

The survey received more than 1,300 responses, about 80 percent of the class.