

ACCOUNTING STUDENTS CHEGG REDDIT HOW TO
“We constantly work to prevent misuse of our site,” the company's statement said, “including reminding subscribers about our Honor Code before they submit questions, and providing tips and information to students and faculty on how to properly use and not use Chegg services.” What is Chegg?Ĭhegg, like other education technology websites, saw major growth during the pandemic as universities were forced to pivot instruction online. The tool prevents students from accessing the material in the given time range. Professors said students have used the service in exams, snapping pictures surreptitiously with their phones and peeking when the answers come in.Ĭheating in college is nothing new, but some feared the increased online learning spurred by the pandemic would lead to even more academic dishonesty, enabled by websites such as Chegg.Ĭhegg denies that characterization and said its users agree in its terms of service not to use the platform to cheat. It cooperates with schools looking to find cheaters.Ī new product, Chegg said, even allows professors to upload their tests before the scheduled exam dates. An answer, complete with how to solve it, can come back within minutes. If students need help with a math problem, they can upload a photo of it to Chegg. It had 6.6 million subscribers across 190 countries in the 2020 fiscal year, making it one of the largest education technology companies in the world. The company's market capitalization was as high as $14 billion this year but is now about $4.5 billion.Ĭollege help is a lucrative business: Harvard grad made millions on US college admissions for international studentsĬhegg's test prep and homework help come either through live experts or a cache of questions from textbooks and exams. The business started as a purveyor of textbook rentals in 2005 – a service it still offers – but added services such as writing help, test prep and other homework help. Misuse of online platforms for cheating is not unique to Chegg. The company is one of many that operate alongside the country’s higher education system without the same rules or responsibilities colleges bear. "It is technically impossible for there to be no record of the question if it was in fact posted on our platform." "We immediately conducted our own internal investigation and can categorically say that we have found no evidence that this exchange took place on the Chegg platform," the company said in a statement to USA TODAY. The Texas undergraduate did not respond to requests for comment.Ĭhegg denied the student and the alleged blackmailer had met on its platform. Despite a screenshot showing a Chegg question that was referenced in emails between the two, Chegg said it could not find a record of the question being sent. Kshitij Karan, whose name was on both the threat and the note to the professor, told USA TODAY he had not sent the threatening message to the student, but he had reached out to Gutierrez. He suggested the email containing the threat had been doctored. The emailer went dark, but Gutiérrez posted screenshots of the incident on Twitter with a warning to students. He told the sender, whom he suspected was an Indian national, that he had alerted the State Department. To Gutiérrez, chair of the mathematics department at the University of Texas, San Antonio, the possible blackmail was a far more serious issue. Students who use the sites, especially with their real names, make themselves vulnerable to possible attempts of blackmail, experts said.

Vulnerable to blackmail?įor years, professors have lamented the use of college-help websites such as Chegg in academic dishonesty. Sign up for the only evening news roundup you'll ever need. “Extorting anyone is a crime,” he wrote back. Gutiérrez was angry, but his ire probably surprised the would-be whistleblower. "It will be a shame if something happened regarding the score." “I have sources everywhere and understand you have an exam coming up," the threatening email read. Days earlier, the Texas student said, he had received an email threatening to disclose he had used Chegg to fraudulently complete his coursework unless he paid off the person via PayPal. Gutiérrez snapped into action and got in touch with his student, who complicated the narrative. “It pains me to see students taking undue advantage of the pandemic situation to boost their GPA without putting any effort,” the emailer told Gutiérrez.

Some academics and students know Chegg for another reason: claims it enables cheating in the classroom. The emailer said he worked for Chegg, a website that sells itself as a one-stop shop for collegians who need help with their studies. The person, who identified himself as an incoming graduate student in the USA, said he helped an undergraduate on a test after the two connected online. An apparent good Samaritan had bad news for math professor Juan Gutiérrez: One of his students cheated on an exam.
