42% of Harvard Freshmen Admit to Cheating

To get into Harvard, you have to be the best and the brightest—or at least copy off the best and brightest's paper. In a Harvard Crimson survey, 10% of incoming freshmen said they'd cheated on a test, 17% admitted cheating on a paper or take-home project, and 42% admitted cheating on a homework assignment. All of those numbers went up among athletic recruits, and among men. The survey covered 1,300 students, or 80% of the incoming class.

The numbers are not likely to help the university recoup its image in the wake of its cheating scandal, the LA Times points out. A Harvard spokesman responded to the report by pointing out that cheating was "a national problem," but said Harvard was taking action against cheating "through faculty and presentations to students." (More Harvard stories.)