Do we know for a fact that these two photogenic nitwits knowingly participated in their parents’ fraud? It sounds like they did from the reporting: They posed for photos on rowing machines, which were then used to pass them off as aspiring crew-team members at USC.

But do we know that they knew what the photos were for?

I ask because I’m trying to gauge how much sympathy I should have — for the kids, not for mom and dad. If they knowingly participated and took seats away from more deserving students, then … not much. A little on account of the fact that they’re young, seemingly not bright, and obviously under the influence of some very status-conscious parents. But not much.

But if they didn’t know what those rowing-machine photos were for, and now suddenly they’re national laughingstocks because ma and pa chose to place them at the center of an inane criminal scheme? Why, it’d take a heart of stone not to feel for two young women who are rich and beautiful and tapped into the entertainment industry and already making money as YouTube “influencers” and known to hang out on yachts with the daughter of the chairman of the board of trustees of USC and…

You know what, forget what I said. Doesn’t much matter if they knew about the scheme or not, I’ve decided.

We’re told 19-year-old Olivia and 20-year-old Isabella have made the decision to withdraw from the University. Our sources say they have the full support of their parents, Lori and Mossimo Giannulli, both of whom have been indicted in the college bribery scandal.

Our sources say the family feels certain, if the girls went back to USC, they would be “viciously bullied.” So, the decision has been made…

We’re told Olivia and Isabella never really wanted to go to USC. Our sources say they liked the concept of school principally because of partying, and had their sights set on Arizona State University. That’s why Mossimo sent an email saying he wanted to get his daughters “into a school other than ASU!”

Our sources say Olivia in particular “is a mess, despondent and feeling like it’s the end of the world.”

You don’t need “sources” to know that the girls were mainly interested in USC for its party scene. The one with the cheekbones literally said it to the camera on her YouTube channel.

They won’t be enrolling in a new school anytime soon, per TMZ, because really: Where can you go when you can’t hack it at USC? That, plus the fact that they’re now unwitting global poster children for rich kids soaking up oxygen at universities they don’t deserve to attend. Imagine trying to being taken seriously anywhere, in any context, after this.

I do have some sympathy for them for that, although I suspect the girls themselves are less bothered by losing the benefit of the doubt on their intellects than losing their Sephora and Tresemme contracts. A well-placed source shares this shocking glimpse at their inner lives with People:

“Olivia and Isabella’s personalities were always very different from their parents. They are average students. They have never been obsessed with school and didn’t seem to care that much,” the source says. “They attended school because their parents made them. Their focus was never about getting straight As. It was always clear that it was the parents that pushed them to go to school. Olivia always talks about her vlog. This is her passion. She never really understood why she needs to go to school.” (Neither of the daughters have been charged in connection with the scheme, and it is not known whether they were even aware of it.)

There’s a lesson in this. If your daughter tells you her greatest ambition in life is to post Instagram vids of her trying on make-up, listen to her. Let her chase her dream.

You might wind up in federal prison if you don’t.

In lieu of an exit question, a prediction: If Loughlin manages to dodge jail time, she and her kids will have the biggest reality show in America within like two years. And it will be the girls’ dream come true.