> I think the solution to this is...classes have homework assignments throughout the semesters, but your final paper is one that you write in class. And it's like 50% of your grade. The purpose of the homework assignments throughout the semester is to prepare for the final. If you ace the final, even having paid for essays - then congrats you were able to learn.
Yes but those have fallen out of fashion because students don't like high-stakes objective hard-to-cheat tests. (And there is some argument against a brief timed written test as an assessment for a whole semester. A friendly but rigorous oral exam would be better.
Also, you can cheat a blue book test by hiring a stand-in. There's a story about Ted Kennedy being caught at a pub by his TA, at a time when he was supposedly taking a final exam at Harvard.
Isn't this a blue book exam?