With the barrage of final exams and papers University of Wisconsin students face this week, some may give in to the temptation to cheat, according to UW academic officials.

One recent University of Southern California graduate is now facing the consequences of such a decision.

Elizabeth Paige Laurie, heiress to the Wal-Mart fortune, could lose her degree amid accusations of academic misconduct.

Elena Martinez, Laurie’s freshman roommate, has said Laurie paid her $20,000 over the course of three and a half years to do schoolwork for her.

There is an ongoing investigation of Laurie’s alleged misconduct at USC, but university officials are no longer commenting on her case, claiming there have been no new developments to date.

Ervin Cox, a UW assistant dean, said UW students could be engaging in similar misconduct, stating an investigation is currently underway for a student accused of writing a paper for another.

“It’s possible [cases like Laurie’s are] happening here,” Cox said.

Cox added that college graduates could lose their degrees after graduation if it is discovered they have cheated.

“It can happen,” Cox said. “Many universities have policies that retroactively take away degrees if students have cheated.”

Cheating is problematic especially around finals week, Cox said.

“It’s not a rare occurrence to have a case [of a student being accused of cheating] referred to us, especially this time of year,” Cox said.

Cox said he has seen cheating take many forms, from “low tech” methods like writing answers on a coffee cup to “high tech” methods like text messaging.

According to a pamphlet about academic misconduct from the UW Dean of Students Office, consequences for students caught cheating can range from an oral reprimand to expulsion from the university.

Cox said consequences for cheating can vary greatly according to a student’s history, the program a student is in and the beliefs about cheating of individual professors, who are the ones who initiate investigations of academic misconduct by the Dean of Students Office.

If caught cheating, Cox recommends students be honest.

“If the student admits to [cheating], that helps a lot,” Cox said.

Martinez told ABC’s “20/20” she no longer attends USC for financial reasons but hopes to return there some day.

Martinez may not be in good standing with the university, however. Cox said students being paid to do the work of others are also guilty of academic misconduct.

In the aftermath of the cheating scandal, Laurie also lost her namesake, the University of Missouri’s “Paige Sports Arena.” One week after Martinez’s allegations, MU’s Board of Curators voted unanimously in a three-minute conference call to change the name of the $75 million facility to the “Mizzou Arena,” after the school’s nickname.

Laurie’s parents, billionaires Bill and Nancy Laurie, donated $25 million to MU for the building of the arena and named it after their daughter. After Martinez appeared on “20/20,” however, they rethought their decision.

Marion Cairns, a member of the MU Board of Curators, said the name change was initiated completely by the Lauries, not the board itself.

“It was a direct result of having [Elizabeth Paige Laurie’s] parents contact the university and withdraw the naming rights,” Cairns said, adding that the Lauries handled the situation “very gracefully.”