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FOR A DEGREE to be worth the sheepskin it's written on, there needs to be real scholarship and completion of the stated academic requirements behind it. Recently, three fine universities have been shaken by scandals involving unmerited diplomas. Now, West Virginia University, Carnegie Mellon, and our own Virginia Commonwealth University are all dealing with damaged careers and reputations.

Investigators discovered that, last fall, the West Virginia school awarded an executive master's of business administration degree to Heather Bresch. Ms. Bresch happens to be the governor's daughter. Even worse, she's an executive with one of the school's major donors. She did attend WVU in 1998, but did not earn enough credits for the degree granted. (It's now been rescinded.) A provost, a dean, and finally the university president resigned over the scandal.

The dean of the Heinz School of Public Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon University resigned in August after granting a diploma to an unnamed transfer student whose program included more independent-study credits than the school allowed.

Here in the Old Dominion, Virginia Commonwealth University awarded a bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary studies to former Richmond police chief Rodney Monroe. But Mr. Monroe had completed only six credit hours at VCU--not the 30 required for a degree. An anonymous source, code-named "Harry Potter" sent blistering e-mails revealing the scandal to the press and university officials. In June, an investigative team found that the chief had been afforded "preferential treatment," having completed only 15 of the 28 requirements for the degree.

As a result, two deans resigned. Best-selling author David Baldacci, who is on the board of visitors, blasted the Draconian tactics of the investigators and the loss of the professors, but the BoV's final report is clear: Mistakes were made.

The difference between a diploma mill and an authentic university lies in the latter's strict academic requirements. When schools play favorites and award unearned degrees, they risk their accreditation and reputation. They also diminish the perceived value of other students' degrees. "Flexibility" is often a good thing, but in academics, it might be called cheating.