PASS

PASSPASSPASS

PASS

PASSPASSPASS
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Why do some university students pay for help with their academic work?

Why do some university students pay for help with their academic work?Why do some university students pay for help with their academic work?Why do some university students pay for help with their academic work?

Our study looks into this little-known area of 21st-century academia.

Learn more

Why do some university students pay for help with their academic work?

Why do some university students pay for help with their academic work?Why do some university students pay for help with their academic work?Why do some university students pay for help with their academic work?

Our study looks into this little-known area of 21st-century academia.

Learn more

Welcome to the PASS Project

The Paying for Academic Support Study (PASS) is a collaborative research initiative examining the complex, evolving landscape of academic integrity and student support in modern higher education.

In today’s high-pressure university environment, an increasing number of students turn to third-party commercial services for assistance with their assignments, essays, and exams. While often labeled simply as "contract cheating," the motivations behind this phenomenon are deeply nuanced.

Our study aims to move beyond simple disciplinary narratives to investigate why students choose to pay for academic help, how they navigate these choices, and what this means for the future of higher education.

What We Investigate

Student Motivations:
Understanding the underlying academic, linguistic, and socio-emotional pressures that drive students to seek paid commercial help.
Ethical Support Systems:
Exploring how institutions can foster pedagogical environments that encourage students to seek academic assistance through legitimate, ethical, and university-sanctioned channels.
The 21st-Century Classroom:
Documenting the impact of commercial academic services on the teaching and learning experience in Canadian universities.

About the study

Researchers

Presentations

Presentations

Joel Heng Hartse, SFU

Sandra Zappa-Hollman, UBC

Tim Anderson, UVIC


Research Assistants:

Mohsen Moghaddam

Qinghua Chen

Kiyu Itoi

Alex Ross

Presentations

Presentations

Presentations

  • SFU Academic Integrity Group (December 2022)
  • SFU Faculty Forum (February 2023)
  • AAAL March 2023 (Portland)
  • ACLA-CAAL May 2023 (Toronto)
  • CASDW-ACR May 2023 (Toronto)
  • CSAI 2023 (Winnipeg)

In the media

Presentations

In the media

  • "What Happened When I Made My Students Cheat" in Inside Higher Ed
  • "How Can We Encourage Students to Seek Academic Assistance Ethically?" in Times Higher Education


PASS

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