Academic Integrity in Higher Education: Is Collegiate Aviation Education at Risk?

Abstract

Academic integrity needs to be an integral part of collegiate aviation education if students expect to effectively compete in this highly competitive field. Academic integrity is a serious problem in most US colleges and universities today and student dishonesty (in the form of cheating) has presently risen as a major contender for instructors' attention. Recent studies have revealed 40% to 90% of all US college students cheat. To presuppose that academic integrity issues are of little importance and do not present serious problems to collegiate aviation could, in time, irrevocably compromise its very foundation. This paper discusses academic integrity and legal issues in higher education, with implications for collegiate aviation.