Student makes $2,000 per month by doing schoolwork for others
Emily Mosier and Tyler Steele
Editor-in-Chief, Contributor
Cheating, as defined in the Troy University Student Handbook “The Oracle,” is “submitting material that is not yours as part of your course performance.”
To work around technological systems meant to keep students honest, ‘plagiarism-for-profit' has become a prominent issue at Troy. Some students are making thousands of dollars a month doing assignments and taking tests for other students.
In March of 2024, as finals approached, 32 posts were made to the private Facebook group “Troy Students: Uncut Edition,” either offering or soliciting plagiarism services, with most posts having multiple comments. This doesn’t account for posts deleted before they could be counted or posts made to Snapchat, YikYak and other forums.
The Tropolitan was able to identify 30 current students who provide this type of “service” just from this one Facebook group.
One such student, who has chosen to stay anonymous and will be referred to as Jane, has made as much as $2,000 a month doing other students’ work. Jane is an upperclassman in the College of Health Sciences, and at the height of her business, she would spend “all day, every day” doing assignments.
“When I first started it, I wasn't okay with it at all because I started doing tutoring, but then I got to college and nobody really wanted tutoring,” Jane said. “They just wanted assignments done, so I had to give myself little pep talks in my mind, saying ‘it's not that bad, it'll be fine,’ and now it's just kind of whatever.
"“I do it because I like helping people.”
She said she claims the money on her taxes as self-employment.
In addition to doing others’ work, Jane works two jobs. She markets herself by word of mouth and on social media.
She will often make an anonymous post on Facebook to find customers, but if another student makes a solicitous post, she will comment with her full name and profile visible.
Greg Price, the chief technology officer at Troy, said maintaining a clean digital footprint is becoming increasingly more important.
“Even in private groups, there's always a risk of exposure, either through other members or platform administrators cooperating with university or legal authorities,” Price said.
“Moreover, engaging in such activities can have long-term repercussions.”
There are many reasons why a student may pay to have their homework done.
One sophomore, who will anonymously be referred to as John, said he paid to have an essay written partly because he didn’t see the value in doing it himself.
“English has nothing to do with my major, and I know how to write an essay,” John said. “It was just the fact that I didn't want to, so I didn't really feel bad about it.”
Jane said most of her customers come to her either because of laziness, bad time management, not understanding the material or because they are trying to come back from academic probation.
If a student at Troy University is caught turning in plagiarized work, they could be expelled.
Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Dr. Kerry Palmer said cheating lowers the worth of a student’s degree.
“The only person they're really cheating is themselves – cheating themselves out of the opportunity to learn and grow and develop,” Palmer said. “College is not always a fun process, but you come out on the other end better than you started.”
John and Jane both agreed that plagiarism is wrong – sometimes.
“I think if you're paying someone to do all of your assignments, or some assignments in every single class that you have, that you're really not gaining anything out of it . . . in my case, it was only a few assignments,” John said.
A third student, who has also asked to be anonymous, had a much stronger opinion and defended his use of these plagiarism services.
“It’s super easy,’ said the student. “The University is not going to be able to stop [cheating].
“We’ll just find new ways to do it.”
Jane said she doesn’t feel every major needs an in-depth knowledge of a subject to be able to practically apply it.
“It may be wrong or terrible to you, but other people need the help, and if you can't help them, somebody has to, and that someone just so happens to be me,” Jane said.
Palmer urged students who are struggling financially to seek other options of supporting themselves through college, starting by meeting with the financial aid office to make sure they are receiving all the scholarships and grants they qualify for. He suggested students who are struggling in class to utilize the university’s free tutoring and writing center.
Palmer said integrity is something that will follow a student through their entire life.
“There are great things about social media . . . [but] it can take you to a dark place if you're not careful,” Palmer said. “It comes down to some good advice I've been given in life, and that is to find balance.
“You have to leverage things for the good as best you can but recognize when they can be a trap, and sometimes leadership is choosing not to participate.”
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