IMO, it's because this has been the status quo for many years for people who could pay to cheat their way through the formal process of a degree, and now the op

IMO, it's because this has been the status quo for many years for people who could pay to cheat their way through the formal process of a degree, and now the opportunity cost is ~0. I recall it being pretty obvious for a large number of years of my time in the education system which kids were cheating their way through, because they'd be able to parrot crap in writing or do perfectly on take-home things, but mysteriously be crap if you required them to reason about it in the moment. I imagine we've all met people in our professional careers who could sell you a heater on the beach but can't reason their way out of a paper bag, as well - it's the same problem.