Part 1: Education or Transaction? The Real Cost of Academic Shortcuts

In centuries past, education was a noble pursuit—about shaping minds, building character, and preparing individuals for meaningful roles in society. It was rooted in curiosity, ethics, and the desire to grow. But in today’s classrooms, that purpose often feels lost.

Across the globe, the focus has shifted from learning to earning. Students chase degrees not for knowledge, but for credentials. In many systems, grades outweigh growth. According to educational historians and economists, we are deep in a culture of credentialism, where the diploma is the prize and the process of getting it is negotiable.

This pressure has fueled a troubling rise in academic dishonesty. Ghost-writing services—also known as "contract cheating"—have become a global industry. Some studies estimate that between 3% to 11% of higher education students have engaged in contract cheating—using third-party services to complete assignments—raising serious concerns about academic integrity.

With the explosion of generative AI tools like ChatGPT, cheating has become even easier. A recent U.S. poll found that 89% of college students admitted using AI to complete a homework assignment, and over half used it to write essays. Entire apps now exist to “humanize” AI-generated content, making it undetectable to plagiarism checkers.

The problem is no longer just detection. It’s purpose. If students can pass by outsourcing their thinking, what happens to the actual learning?

International education, in particular, raises difficult questions. With universities now competing in a global education market, many students (and families) see education as an investment. For some, it’s become a transaction: pay tuition, get a visa, earn a degree. The risk is clear—if the degree is the goal, learning can become secondary, or even optional.

We must ask ourselves: Are we building thinkers, or just issuing certificates?

The purpose of education was never meant to be a shortcut to status. It was meant to develop the whole human. When students, faculty, and institutions all feel pressured to prioritize outcomes over ethics, we lose the moral foundation education was built on.

In Part 2, we explore the aftermath: student disengagement, attendance crises, AI dependency, and what educators can do to restore meaning to learning.