Interim West Virginia University President C. Peter Magrath yesterday reiterated that 27 M.B.A. degrees the university issued with record-keeping discrepancies will stand, despite questions being raised by Mylan Inc. executive Heather Bresch, whose retroactively awarded M.B.A. degree was rescinded by the university last year.

Dr. Magrath said the circumstances surrounding the degree claimed by Ms. Bresch, the daughter of West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin, were different from the circumstances regarding the other M.B.A. degrees.

"Those degrees were awarded at the time they were supposed to be awarded -- when the people graduated," Dr. Magrath said following a faculty senate meeting yesterday. Ms. Bresch's degree "was awarded much later under circumstances that became controversial, and it was rescinded," he said.

WVU revoked an M.B.A. degree Ms. Bresch was granted by WVU in October 2007, nearly a decade after she left the program. An independent panel appointed by the university last year concluded she did not earn the degree and that top administrators falsified records to make it appear she earned it, adding 22 credits to her transcript and giving her credit for courses she did not register for, pay for or complete.

Results of an internal review made public last week found discrepancies in the records of 27 M.B.A. degrees awarded between 1997 and 2008. A consultant hired in the wake of the scandal did not say those degrees were improperly awarded. The consultant, the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, recommended that WVU overhaul its record-keeping practices.

On Friday, Ms. Bresch asked the university's board of governors for "a detailed explanation of what differentiates my situation from them." She also said she would "revisit my options" based on the consultant's report. Ms. Bresch says she earned her degree in December 1998.

In a letter to the board, Ms. Bresch said she was enclosing a "spreadsheet" verifying her status as an M.B.A. graduate.

The investigative panel whose report last April prompted the university to revoke Ms. Bresch's degree said her name was on a list of 1999 M.B.A. graduates provided by the business school. But the panel concluded the list was not credible.

Among other inaccuracies, the list contained the names of "several other individuals besides Ms. Bresch ... who had neither actually graduated nor claimed to have graduated," the panel said. The panel noted that her name did not appear on a number of other graduation lists, including any of WVU's official commencement bulletins.

A grand jury in West Virginia also investigated her case, finding that she had not completed the degree. Ms. Bresch "was not justified in any belief that she had actually earned the degree," the jury said in a statement issued in October.

Jury members declined to return criminal indictments but concluded that top administrators abused their power. "Ethical and moral boundaries were violated by all individuals involved in this situation," the jury said.

Interim Provost Jane Martin yesterday said the university will respond to Ms. Bresch's letter as quickly as possible but that it deserved "due consideration." She said she could not "see the need" for another formal investigation in the wake of the panel's report and grand jury probe.

WVU faculty senate President Virginia Kleist yesterday credited Dr. Magrath with healing wounds created by the degree scandal, which led to the resignation of President Michael Garrison as well as WVU's provost and business school dean. The report by the consultant is another step in the right direction, she said.

"We have made great strides in the past year," Dr. Kleist said during the faculty senate meeting.

One faculty senate member who supported Mr. Garrison said he was disappointed that his colleagues, who voted overwhelmingly for the former president's resignation last spring, were not outraged by news of 27 new problem degrees.

"I'm startled by the silence of the faculty over this report," sport management professor Dallas Branch said.

Dr. Magrath said the committee searching for a new president expects to present the names of five or six candidates to the board of governors this weekend. The board hopes to announce its final choice April 3.

Dr. Magrath said he expects to remain at WVU through the transition, probably at least until July 1.