Book Review - Bear's Guide to Earning Degrees by Distance Learning

Pros

• Packed with useful tips
• Tons of school listings
• Hard-to-find accreditation information
• Helpful glossary and index
• Down-to-Earth opinions and advice

Cons

• School entries list “fields offered” separate from degrees granted

Description

• by Mariah P. Bear with Thomas Nixon
• Copyright 2006, Ten Speed Press
• 392 pages

Guide Review - Book Review - Bear's Guide to Earning Degrees by Distance Learning

Students struggling with the challenge of finding a distance learning school will find Bear’s Guide an indispensable resource, mainly because of its school profiles. The book gives students access to hundreds of accredited school listings, including addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, websites, and any other information the authors have been able to dig up. Also included are:

- “Important Issues in Nontraditional Education” (evaluating schools, accreditation, applying to schools)

- “Alternative Methods of Earning Credit” (equivalency exams, life-experience credit, credit bank services)

- “Miscellany and Reference” (honorary doctorates, bending rules, advice for prisoners)

This book’s unabashed honesty (pointing out bogus schools, warning students about specific organizations) puts it above others in its league. The authors aren’t afraid to tell the reader just what they’ve learned about a particular school and will tell you if the information is shady or unclear. For example, in one school’s profile, they note: “No faculty are listed in its catalog or on its Web site. In fact, a correspondent has reported that on an initial interview for acceptance as a student, he was offered instead a professorship, for which he felt he was quite unqualified.” This straight-forward style, in addition to the disclaimer that the authors don’t accept compensation from schools listed, helps searching students feel at ease.

User Reviews