You speak of the prevalence of cheating and a lack of participation. You also disregard the commonly used (simple) explanation that these issues are caused by the economic situation and instead assert that these issues stem from laziness. I don't completely disagree with you. Laziness has certainly become more widespread in recent years. But I think we have to move beyond that and ask: Why has laziness become more prevalent in the student population? I don't want to try finding the answer to that question right now; I'm feeling particularly lazy at present.

However, I do disagree with your analysis to a large degree. I'm currently studying at a community college and attempting to transfer to a four-year university. I'm also a disabled Marine Corps veteran, so I don't personally have to work (because I can't) and I technically don't have to pay for my undergrad degree at all. This isn't the case for most of the other students that are in class with me. Most of the other students are obliged to work in order to survive.

I'm in California. The absolute cheapest rent you can find within 50 miles of my school is $850 a month and that gets you a single room in an area with a high crime rate, low walk-ability, etc. etc. That means you probably need a car. Cars have both an expensive up front payment, and a high up-keep cost (gas, oil, tires., car insurance, yearly registration). Food is expensive here. The cheapest that you're going to be able to go for food costs without sacrificing your physical health is about $200 a month; no eating out, no pre-made food other than noodles (but you can't eat noodles for every meal, you'll die), no sweet treats, you get the vibe. Healthcare? Go without it, too expensive; just pray that you never, ever have to make an emergency visit to the hospital or you have some sort of genetic disease (the odds... they are not in your favor, but there's still hope, right?) then you have phone bills, hygiene products, kitchen utensils, toilet paper, etc etc. Add school expenses on top of that. So you MUST have a job in order to survive.

A job is time in exchange for money. The minimum wage here is $15.50 an hour. That's typically what an unskilled, college aged person can expect to receive here. But let's say this student gets a job for $20 an hour; this is generous. If this student works 25 hours a week that means they're bringing home $2k before taxes per month. After taxes that's more like $1,500. This just simply is not enough to live, even at the bare minimum. Now, because most places aren't going to allow an employee to choose their hours, the student is going to have to work full-time. That's at least 40 hours a week.

In order to finish an undergraduate degree in four years without taking summer classes the student needs to take 15 credit hours worth of classes per semester. That's 15 hours of in-person class time per week. The amount of study time that my school recommends is the amount of credit hours taken multiplied by 2. That puts the student at 45 hours per week spent solely on school.

So, the student spends 85 hours a week on school and work. There are 168 hours in a week. In order to maintain good health (which is something that the student desperately needs because, remember, healthcare is expensive) mayo clinic recommends at least 7 hours per 24 hours - so 49 hours per week of sleep. Between work, school, and sleep the student gives up 134 out of 168 hours every week.. 34 hours left for every other facet of life that I did not mention, many of which are necessities.

The above schedule is not living, it is surviving. I know that this outlined situation is not the reality for the majority, but it is still the reality for many. I would argue that in order to not go absolutely insane, the student stuck in this sort of situation is required to cut corners. They must choose which corners to cut. The easiest corner to cut is homework that the student decides to not be essential to their understanding of the academic material presented, but because the student should still aim to do well in school, and those homework assignments are still worth points that affect their grade, they turn to cheating out of necessity.

I hope that you don't take my comment as a personal attack; I don't mean it as such. I think that there's a massive disconnect between the realities of different people because it's incredibly difficult to imagine oneself living a less ideal reality than their own. Discourse such as this - by which I mean Dr. Musgrave's essay and all of these comments - can allow us as individuals and as fellow human beings to better understand one another. This is where solidarity begins.