As a prof, I can say that cheating does occur in many universities, but I’m not sure that it occurs to the extent that you are describing... I have taught at multiple institutes and have never personally heard a student publicly admit to cheating, and I haven’t experienced many students coming to me with concerns about other students cheating. I do catch students cheating, but it’s not a high percentage of students. There could be things going on under the radar, but my institution does enforce anti-cheating protocols, and students get expelled for it.

I’m wondering what is going on that cheating is so blatantly rampant? Do students face no consequences when it occurs? If students are facing harsh consequences and THAT many students are still cheating, it’s kind of a dumb move, on their end. What seems more likely is that students aren’t really being deterred from it for some reason (lack of consequences).