What Homework?

College students admit that at least 70 percent of their excuses for missed assignments are lies. A survey by Joseph Ferrari, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at DePaul University in Chicago also found that instructors almost always accept students' excuses at face value, thus enabling chronic procrastinators.

Students' explanations tend toward health or computer problems, though the death of grandparents is a perennial fallback, according to Ferrari. Some studies indicated that they enjoy hoodwinking instructors, but most of the 224 students surveyed by Ferrari reported feeling guilty about lying. None, however, said the guilt would prevent them from fibbing in the future.