College Degrees by Mail & Modem: 100 Accredited Schools That Offer Bachelor's, Master's, Doctorates, and Law Degrees by Home Study

Why do I have to review the book before I can read others' reviews

I have always keep the latest edition of Dr Bear's work on my reference shelf. The book is invaluable to finding schools that will offer programs of study in a format and time schedule convenient to the student. As a result of this work, I completed at my own pace an accredited MS in financial services and MS in management from the American College, an accredited DBA at Nova Southeastern and an unaccredited JD at William Howard Taft. This JD allowed me to take the CA bar (I passed). I am now licensed to practice law in CA. I subsequently completed an accrediated LLM at SMU.If you are looking for ways to educate yourself or your employees within time constrants, Dr Bear's book is essential. There is little doubt that education is about to undergo a metamorphosis in the coming years. This metamorphosis will allow for interactive learning tailored to the specific needs of the student. Dr Bear's book has helped me to glimpse this future.

"A degree is often more useful than a good education or valuable skills in your field." (the authors, pg. 3)"One man's degree mill is another man's alternative university." (the authors. Bears' Guide, 13th Edition. pg 306)'People rarely check up on other people's degrees." (John Bear, Bear's Guide, 10th Ed., pg 24)I think these quotes encapsulate John Bear's strategy and view of higher education. "alternative" is altedspeak code for "unaccredited." John Bear is correct on the second point - outright degree mills on the one end of the continuum shade into sincere but unrecognized alternative/unaccredited universities at the other. I myself would say they're all bogus - whether degree mills or "alternative/unaccredited" universities. John Bear by his own admission involved himself in his past with a string of unaccredited "universities/colleges" in states with lax or non-existent laws governing degree-granting colleges/universities.It is instructive to consider the case of Fairfax University: John Bear and his wife were two of four founders, but left after the first few students enrolled in 1986. As of 1991, John Bear was calling this an "academically-sound program" in the previous version of this book. Here's what Fairfax University's current website advertising says: "Degree programs offered at Bachelor, Master, and Doctoral levels. Personal supervision by mail, telephone, etc by...highly qualified..faculty. No residency or written examination requirements. Work at own pace from home. Credits awarded for prior learning, training. Average duration of programs is 6-18 months." Sounds a lot like ads for a school for cartoonists. Fairfax is not accredited. The degree-granting authority comes from Louisiana, which has notoriously lax regulations, but the school itself is apparently in England with only a secretarial drop-office in Louisiana (all information from Bears' books). There is a strong movement in the USA to democratise and bring higher (tertiary) education access to greater numbers of people. Some methods are legitimate - by increasing the number of seats in accredited universities, or building new universities, for instance. Other alternative education enthusiasts favor loosening the traditional link between the bachelor's degree and the three or four years of on-campus study necessary to attain the degree. They want evaluations of "course equivalents" and credits for "life" experience - John Bear himself suggests that riding a horse, eating at an exotic restaurant, "applying statistics to gambling" (I like that one - a subscription to Racing Form ?...Bear is nothing if not droll) and reading his [Bear's] books "could" be worth credit for life experience learning (Bear's Guide 10th Edition). In my view, this "life assessment model" will have the same effect on university degrees as the dumbing-down of high school education did for the high school graduation diploma - render it untrustworthy. I note t

We've all laughed at the "correspondence courses" we've seen advertised on TV and in magazines. But many bona-fide universities offer "distance learning" programs via online classes, and independent study and coursework by mail. At some, you can get your diploma (one that's worth something) without ever walking into a classroom!

With so much disinformation regarding nontraditional schools offering higher degrees, it's comforting to read a book based in both reality and calmness. No high sales pitch here, just good advice regarding a lot of good, nontraditional schools and programs. Highly recommended.