There are two goals: Encourage learning, and discourage cheating. A low grade doesn't necessarily do the former. It also depends how the overall course grade i

There are two goals: Encourage learning, and discourage cheating. A low grade doesn't necessarily do the former. It also depends how the overall course grade is structured. In my undergrad, it was common that the final exam was not an outsized portion of your grade. A number of courses pegged it at 10% - meaning if you did really well throughout the semester, you could just not study at all, get a 25% score on the final (i.e. fail the final), and still get an A. Aside: I loved those courses - work hard to get in a good position, and chill during the finals. The professors also wanted to encourage continual effort and learning, and making the overall grade be heavily dependent on the final would discourage that.