Key Takeaways
- Princeton University will begin proctoring all in-person exams starting this summer, ending a 133-year tradition of unproctored testing under its honor code.
- Cheating has become easier than ever, using tools like AI.
- Recent survey data shows a disconnect between the honor code and behavior: about 30% of Princeton seniors admit to cheating.
For more than 100 years, Princeton University treated its honor code as sacred, to the point that outside monitoring during exams was essentially off-limits and a signed pledge was supposed to be protection enough.
Those norms are now changing, as administrators move to rewrite the rules in response to a wave of AI-enabled cheating.
Earlier this week, Princeton faculty approved a plan to bring proctors to every in-person exam starting this summer, rolling back a no-proctor policy that had been in place since Princeton adopted its honor code in 1893.
According to a letter from Princeton dean Michael Gordin, viewed by The Wall Street Journal, the change arose after “significant numbers” of students and faculty encouraged it, “given their perception that cheating on in-class exams has become widespread.”
Gordin wrote that AI has made academic dishonesty far more accessible while also obscuring the usual telltale signs of cheating. He noted that students are reluctant to flag suspected cheating for fear of retaliation from their classmates. When students raise concerns anonymously, it often leaves administrators with too little information to follow up.
Princeton was one of a small group of universities that trusted students enough to let them sit for exams without a professor in the room, relying instead on a strict, student-run honor system. Another institution with a similar honor code is the University of Virginia.
Fighting against cheating
Under the new rules, professors will sit in on exams, note any suspected violations and pass those cases along to the student honor committee to review and decide. Princeton students will still have to confirm that they have followed the honor code: “I pledge my honor that I have not violated the Honor Code during this examination.”
Nadia Makuc, a Princeton senior who led the honor committee this past year, told the Journal that she believes most students support the shift to proctored exams because it relieves them of the burden of turning in their peers. She noted that the panel handled around 60 cases over the last year, a noticeable increase, but suspects many more potential violations never make it into the system.
It’s easier than ever to cheat, she noted.
“If the exam is on a laptop, someone can just flip to another window. Or if the exam is in a blue book, it’s just people using their phone under their desk or going to the bathroom and using it,” she told the Journal.
Nearly 30% of Princeton seniors admitted to cheating
A recent survey by The Daily Princetonian, Princeton’s student-run newspaper, helps explain why the old system was under strain. In the 2025 poll of more than 500 Princeton seniors, nearly 30% said they had cheated on an assignment or exam at some point during their time at the university. At the same time, about 45% reported knowing about an honor code violation that went unreported. Just 0.4%, fewer than 1 in 200 seniors, said they had ever actually turned in a classmate.
Professors at other institutions have turned to blue books, oral exams and even assignments written on typewriters to combat cheating.
“At stake here is not just the soul of education, but also the genuine development of critical thinking among the population,” Christian Moriarty, a professor of ethics and law at St. Petersburg College in Florida, told the Journal.
Key Takeaways
- Princeton University will begin proctoring all in-person exams starting this summer, ending a 133-year tradition of unproctored testing under its honor code.
- Cheating has become easier than ever, using tools like AI.
- Recent survey data shows a disconnect between the honor code and behavior: about 30% of Princeton seniors admit to cheating.
For more than 100 years, Princeton University treated its honor code as sacred, to the point that outside monitoring during exams was essentially off-limits and a signed pledge was supposed to be protection enough.
Those norms are now changing, as administrators move to rewrite the rules in response to a wave of AI-enabled cheating.
Earlier this week, Princeton faculty approved a plan to bring proctors to every in-person exam starting this summer, rolling back a no-proctor policy that had been in place since Princeton adopted its honor code in 1893.
