According to a Times Magazine survey, 82% of college students cheat in some way or another when it comes to their tests and homework. More than half of students in high school admit to cheating as well, but why has it increased so much from the year 1940 when only 20% of students said they had cheated on exams and homework?

Could it be our extensive use of technology that drives us to the dishonest coursework we submit? I mean, on coursehero.com study guides from the exact class, professor, and chapter are right in front of us. In total honesty, I don't know the last time I read a whole book for school when there are SparkNotes. Who has?

Or is it the fact that we are forced to take so many classes that bore us, have no relevance to our future and that we all complain, "When will I EVER use this?" It does make cheating much more prominent when there is not a desire to actually learn about the material being presented. It brings a "why study for this class when accounting is actually useful to me?" mentality.

Maybe it is the fact that we live in a society where the GPA you can put on a resume holds more weight than what you have actually learned. That is what cheating says about students, if what you had learned was more important than the grade you earned in the class, people would not cheat their way through school.

However, I believe all of the above are huge factors in why nearly all students are guilty of cheating. In addition to this, I think the biggest reason is the true fear that every college student knows, being unemployed or underemployed. It is true that the higher the risks, the more likely people will do what they need to so they achieve something. Students today are so terrified of wasting four years to get a degree that might not hold as much value as we all once thought it did.

I remember one of the first lectures I ever heard outside of class at Arizona State University was that over half of college graduates were underemployed. This reality check is something that no student pursuing a bachelor's degree should ignore. I remember thinking, "But we all go to college to not be underemployed. How is that possible?"

Rather than focusing solely on GPA and indirectly promoting cheating, it would be helpful for all universities to emphasize the importance of extracurriculars, internships and making your resume stand out to avoid being underemployed or unemployed.