In the immortal words of Capt. Louis Renault in “Casablanca,” we are “shocked –SHOCKED” to hear that wealthy and famous parents have been using their money and influence to get their undeserving children admission to prestigious colleges and univerities.

We had assumed this practice has been going on ever since college education was invented, and school officials discovered they need money to make things work. If the school needs a new library or athletic center, a sizeable donation from Thurston Gotbucks II to the building fund would suddenly open the doors for Thurston Gotbucks III and his C- minus GPA.

The Justice Department this week, however, announced the results of an investigation into a college admissions scam that takes the practice into the realm of criminalm behavior. Rich and famous parents have been paying a college admissions consultant hundreds of thousands, even millions of dollars to have someone take SAT tests for their kids, or change their answers on the exams, write their college entrance essays for them, make it look like they are successful athletes, and even pay bribes to school officials and coaches to grease their kids’ way in to the college of their choice.

Who knows what kind of education these kids are going to get. We suspect they will get as much out of college as they put into it, which is not much. Meanwhile, deserving kids who lack the resources to cheat — or have too much integrity to pull a fast one — lose out on the admissions game. They may still get a good college education, but won’t have the prestigious sheepskin that can open so many doors later on.

We don’t know what kind of legal penalty there would be for perverting the college admissions system like this, but the public shaming for those involved will add an extra sting to their woes.