Going to college is a dream come true for many young people. College is not only a good place to invest in one’s future, it is great fun too. However, college life raises many ethical questions that test an individual’s values and beliefs.

Students struggle with issues of plagiarism, sex, drugs, and personal relationships to name a few. How they respond determines the quality of their college life and even their future. Here are five ethical issues college students face before and after graduation.

1) Applying for College

College students face the first ethical question even before stepping into a college, and it regards their college application. Should they lie? According to the College Board, most students are lying in their applications to increase their chances of admission. The board cites stiff competition for college positions as the reason behind this trend.

It claims that students are lying about their high school achievements or failing to disclose any disciplinary action taken against them. Their parents are not helping either. They are also lying in their admission essays.

2) Academic Misconduct

A study conducted at the University of California by Yeung and Keup detailed the problem of academic misconduct that is typical among college students. It found that students cheated in exams, plagiarized papers, lied about why they missed class, and even sabotaged each other to get ahead academically. Yeung and Keup cited peer pressure and the unlikelihood of getting caught as the main reason for the misconduct.

3) Alcohol and Drugs

College students are, unfortunately, known for binge drinking and experimenting with drugs. Kirk Hanson of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics sought to find out why. He insists that the drug culture in most colleges poses many ethical questions to studies. For instance, should students engaged in athletics use performance enhancing drugs?

Or, can someone help a drunken friend into the dorms despite a college ban on drinking? Kirk adds that peer pressure is to blame for students’ drunken behavior and drug use. When pressured to follow this trend, individual students must decide how far they are willing to go to impress others.

4) Personal Relationships and Sex

College relationships take on many forms. Students must relate with roommates, classmates, lovers, and professors from different backgrounds and belief systems. How to manage such relationships is a question every student must answer. However, romantic relationships are the trickiest for students to handle. Do they engage in casual sex or not?

A study by the University of Nebraska, Lincoln discovered that 9 out of 10 students thought their colleagues were engaging in casual sex when the real figure was only 4 out 10. It determined that students engaging in casual sex mistakenly assumed that everyone else was doing it.

5) Seeking Employment after Graduation

After graduation, students face the same ethical challenge they did when filing their college application. Should they exaggerate their college achievements to get ahead? The National Career Development Association accuses most graduates of doing just that.

Some students might also lie about how they got their degree. For instance, if a student got his masters in political science online, he shouldn’t make it look like it got it from a brick and mortar institution. And there’s also no reason to lie, since most online political science masters, and many masters that do not require much hands on work, are recognized by a large number of organizations, so it’s always better to be honest.

Conclusion

Although college life is fun, it raises certain ethical issues that test a college student’s character. They include relationships, drugs, alcohol, and cheating in exams. Anyone who intends to attend college must, therefore, consider their effect on his or her college life.

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