Should I tell professor someone is cheating? (written by PROF)

In college, you are likely to witness someone cheating in class. And now you have a moral dilemma.

Do you tell your professor? Or do you let it slide? It can be really hard to know what to do.

As a former professor, I am going to tell you what I would have preferred students do in these situations. And tell you if you are required to turn another student in for cheating.

In my opinion, if you see another student cheating, you really should speak up to your professor and let them know what you saw. You can be a part of the solution.

And I will tell you exactly what to say to your professor if you see someone cheating in your college class, even it is online or an in person class, this advice will work for both types of courses.

Should you report classmates cheating?

Yes, as a former professor, I would expect my students to report other classmates who are cheating in college because this will help make sure that students who are getting a passing grade for the course actually earned it.

If you happen to see another student cheating, you should absolutely let your professor know what you saw and who was involved. This way the professor can address it.

This is especially true if you saw someone cheating off your OWN TEST. You need to speak up quickly because they might think that you were allowing them to cheat.

I know a lot of students don’t want to get involved, but you can always tell your professor anonymously. You could create an email to send them anonymously to tell them what you saw.

Or you could just let them know that you don’t want to get involved and you would like to keep this confidential.

Now, if the professor reports the case to the college for investigation, they may interview you. I don’t know if you can necessarily keep yourself completely anonymous so that is something you should keep in mind.

But I bet your professor will try and accommodate your requests as much as possible. And you will really impress them with your honesty.

When you tattle on another student for cheating, you will probably feel like you are betraying your classmate. And while that might be true, you are really helping them.

This is because they will be reprimanded for their dishonesty and they can learn from their mistakes. And do you really want another student cheating their way through college?

These students, if they continue to get away with it, are going to end up in professional careers. And they might not be prepared for them because they didn’t really try in college.

But even more important than that is the lack of integrity these students currently have and by getting them in trouble, you could help change their future.

A lot of students who cheat, if it’s their first time, are probably going to get a warning so don’t feel too bad about it.

Will you get in trouble if you don’t report another student cheating?

Some colleges may have a requirement for students to report cheating, however I am not aware of any widespread rule where students will get in trouble if they don’t report another student cheating so probably not.

Unless you are helping the student cheat, there isn’t anything you are necessarily doing wrong by just witnessing it.

But to be certain, go check your college’s student handbook and see their code of conduct. They might mention something specifically about cheating and your obligation to report it. You will want to look under the section, scholastic dishonesty.

But my major concern here is that professors might think that you were involved in the cheating too and you could end up in trouble if you don’t say anything about what you saw.

And quite honestly, your professor may have already been aware of the cheating so if you don’t report it, they might wonder if you were a part of it too.

There is a form of scholastic dishonesty called collusion, and this is where a student could get in trouble for allowing someone else to cheat off them by simply not “securing their work or intentionally or unintentionally helping someone cheat.”

While I don’t think this would happen, if for some reason your professor tries to implicate you in the cheating scandal too, you can learn how to deal with that cheating accusation here.

How to tell my professor another student was cheating

You should tell your professor that another student was cheating as quickly as possible because the longer you wait, the harder it will be for your professor to prove it. I would do it in private, and avoid confronting the classmate.

If you see a student cheating on a test or an assignment during class, you could slip your professor a note about the cheating or you could wait until after class to talk about it.

Even if you don’t report the cheating during the incident, your professor is still going to be able to address it so don’t worry about doing it during class if you are uncomfortable and worried about making a scene.

You know your professor best, and your professor might be someone who would stop the class and confront the student. And this is going to put you front and center of the confrontation.

If you don’t know the student’s name, try and provide a good description of the student like where they sit and what they look like.

If you aren’t sure they were actually cheating, just let your professor know what you saw and that you aren’t certain that they were cheating, but it just looked really suspicious. They can do all the investigating themselves.

Now that you know what your options are from a professor with REAL experience, think about your situation and make the best decision for yourself.

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