2016 Investigative Reporting for Magazines/Weeklies Finalist: Brad Wolverton

About the Entry

The Chronicle uncovered a shadowy network of companies offering college students professional “cheating” services, a trend poised to undermine academic integrity as the online learning business and learning landscape transforms.

Comments from the Judges

“It took some great investigative reporting to piece together bits of information, and keep tracing addresses to its ’source’ until reaching the human beings and money behind this shadowy cheating industry … particularly appreciated was how the piece dug far enough that it helped explain many of the “whys” — why (and how) students found and paid for cheaters to take their courses, and who were these people cheated for others and how did they manage to justify it, or cover themselves from legal entanglement.”

“Fascinating from start to finish. Kudos to the writer for finding human sources willing to talk about their participation in this shadow industry — claims he clearly worked hard to verify.”