A company based out of Olean, N.Y., is now making it much easier for students to get good grades and meet deadlines for school by doing their work for them.
Paymetodoyourhomework.com is a business where college students can pay individuals to do their school assignments.
“We can do any work,” owner Jessica Mott said. “We take your complete online class for you. We do all your discussions, quizzes, blog posts, your final exam, your midterm — we can do anything.”
The idea for the site came about three years ago when Mott was earning $30 to $40 by proofreading essays for friends who were attending college and decided to make a business out of it.
“I created the website for about $20, and in about seven days, I had already made about $3,000,” Mott said. “Our revenue right now is over half a million dollars. It’s a never-ending clientele.”
Mott said that about 626 people from Arizona view the website per month and 50 to 60 percent of those people end up using the service.
“We get a lot of students from ASU, about 100 inquiries a month,” Mott said. “One-third of those students end up paying [for the service], but that is steadily increasing.”
Since the business began, about 75 to 100 UA students have used the service.
“Most students come from schools that offer a wide variety of online courses,” Mott said. “[The] UA doesn’t and ASU does.”
Mott said she hears every excuse imaginable for why a student cannot do their online class, study for exams or complete an assignment, but she really does not care about the reason; whatever the student needs will be done.
However, the services come with a price. Prices range and depend on the deadline of the assignment.
“If you call me one hour before your exam is due, I’m probably going to give you a $200[-plus] price for anything,” Mott said. “If it’s a discussion or something it will be cheaper, but we ask for 24 hours notice.”
Students can email or call the company to get a quote on how much their school work will cost them and also work out a payment plan to pay for the service. Mott said the company does payment plans for all the clients.
Average pricing for a 13-week online course runs about $100 to $125 per week, but to give students flexibility, Mott said she would offer longer payment plans.
While this service may be useful for college students, some UA professors have a different opinion about it.
“I haven’t heard of it, and I don’t like the sound of it,” said Robert Maier, a mathematics professor.
Kelly Mellody, a pre-nursing freshman, said she has not heard of the service or anything like it and would not use it.
“I feel like you’d get caught for plagiarism or cheating — it’s bad karma,” Mellody said.
The experts who do the schoolwork have to pass a series of tests given by Mott. They must have a bachelor’s degree or higher, meet every deadline throughout every time zone in the country and be able to guarantee the grades they quote. Experts have to become the student, and make themselves do work like how the student would do it, or else the work will not appear authentic.
“We have to become the student and show improvement,” Mott said. “If a student has all ‘D’s’ [and] then gets an ‘A,’ that will throw a red flag up with the school.”
Michael Polakowski, associate professor at the School of Government and Public Policy, said he has not heard of the service but suspects that those services are already available to students.
“I limit the time [to] online activities, just because I’m always concerned that there’s going to be that sharing of information,” Polakowski said.
Mott said she does not consider it cheating because so many students are required to take classes that do not even pertain to their college degree.
“Say you want to become [an] English teacher,” Mott said. “Why do you have to take 30 different math credits? I look at it like this — I am dealing with actual adults who are actually paying for their education. It is your choice to do whatever you want to do with your education.”
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