SAT, ACT Cheats Get Off Easy

College hopefuls caught cheating on their ACT or SAT exams are likely to face few consequences, the Los Angeles Times reports, due to policies under which the administering agencies simply cancel suspicious scores on the college-admission exams. High schools and colleges are kept in the dark about potential wrongdoing, and students are generally allowed to retake the exams.

The agencies say their focus is on making sure the scores sent to colleges are valid, and they have no intention of punishing students—generating complaints that they are giving cheaters a free pass. "Their position is thoroughly unaccountable and promotes unethical conduct," said the head of an ethics institute. "What they're basically saying is 'Try it. You have nothing to lose.'" (More SAT stories.)