Average Rating: 
Rating:  - I used John Bear's book to earn 3 college degrees.
In the mid-80's I had a high-school diploma and a decent job, yet I knew I had more information
and reading/writing skills than most of my peers and many of those higher in the corporate ladder. I decided to read John Bear's GUIDE TO EARNING COLLEGE DEGREES NON-TRADITIONALLY. I read it, re-read it and studied it. I decided to act on his advice.
In two years I obtained an AA degree from the University of the State of New York, while working at my regular job and never attending a college campus except for a few hours to take some monitored tests. In the next two years I obtained a BA degree from the same University,
by passing only two more tests; both entrance exams. John Bear assured me that my degrees were fully accredited, but I wondered. I decided to apply for an MA degree from Cal State at Dominguez Hills; another one of John Bear's recommendations. I had never heard of the USNY before reading his book, but I surely had heard of Cal State, so I applied for their off-campus MA program. To my delight I was
accepted on the weight of my BA degree from USNY, and in another two years I earned my MA degree while working at my regular job, without ever setting a foot on the CSDH campus. Since that time I have advanced my career to the level of a consultant, and my income is nearly triple my mid-80's income. I attribute at least part of my success to the self-confidence and prestige of having these sheep-skins on my resume and on my walls.
Thank you, Dr. John Bear, for your invalubable book, which has greatly enriched my life.
Best regards,
--Paul Trej
Rating: - Thorough,informative and fair
In the 1970's I launched a private correspondence institution named Lincoln University (Arizona). Most students were from Nigeria. I had a lot of problems from "yellow journalism" - newspapers such as Britain's Daily Telegraph which never approached me denounced me falsely as a bogus degree salesman. I was very grateful to Dr John Bear for giving Lincoln a fair assessment in his Guide recognising my work as a genuine attempt to make quality tertiary education available at a cheap rate for Africa. I have gone on to be a professor in residential African and Asian universities whose standards certainly don't match those I set for "unaccredited" LIncoln. I feel John Bear's research on real and imagined universities is very thorough, informative and fair. Dr Bernard Leeman b_leeman@hotmail.com
Rating:  - Bears Promote Worthless Degrees
I use Bears' books in a way the authors probably do not intend. I see many resumes in the course of my work. If a job candidate's resume contains a degree from a university mentioned in Bears' book I normally throw the resume straight into the trash - three points and a substantial saving of my business clients' time, money and aggravation.Bears' book is an essential reference tool for all Human Resources personnel. This Bears' book serial - a new edition has to be printed every few years to keep up with the proliferation - is the industry standard listing of bogus schools. Professional recruiters need this book precisely because there are dishonest people out there who eagerly peruse Bears' guidebook to see which schools will grant them an impressive-sounding degree in return for cash and a minimum of effort. (Sadly, a few gullible boobs actually believe the degrees they get from these bogus schools are legitimate). I'm always amazed at how easily even experienced recruiters are bamboozled by bogus degrees. Bears' guide lists almost every bogus school in the English speaking world and beyond. This Bears' book is the standard reference for Bears' book as being issued by outright degree mills. The Bears are thorough and honest about such "schools" - except where the school's owners have obviously threatened the two Bears with litigation, in which the Bears hide their opinions between the lines of the review. 2) Those "distance learning" - aka correspondence - "degrees" from marginal accredited institutions that more or less offer a degree for cash and a little work - often merely a perfunctory assessment of "life experience" and a short essay. John Bear suggests reading his book and getting pregnant are good for credit at some "non-traditional" universities... This is my main complaint about the Bears' enthusiasm for "non-traditional" degrees. It's my view that there is no substitute for spending four years (three years in some countries) immersed in an academic environment before a student can call himself "educated" in any real sense. No amount of correspondence study, exam challenges, or "real-life experience credit" will subsitute. The Bears do their readers a disservice by suggesting these "non-traditional" degrees are anywhere near as good as traditional degrees earned in residence. Anyone claiming a degree from one of Bear's suggested marginal "non-traditional schools" has a time bomb in their resume. Sooner or later they will be found out, laughed-at by their colleagues, and discredited. I note with amusement that John Bear himself carefully and repeatedly assures readers that his own PhD is from a legitimate traditional university. In his heart John Bear knows the difference... 3) The few legitimate "distance-learning" degrees offered by a realtively small number of reputable universities. These mostly involve novel tools such as lectures distributed by internet or private television broadcasts. These degrees are difficult to earn and the students is assessed and graded rigorously - as if he were an on-campus student. Often some on-campus courses and/or short residency are required before a degree is granted. Such legitimate degrees are not the focus of this Bears' book. John Bear himself admits in his book to having being involved with several unaccredited "universities" that offered "non-traditional" degrees. He himself moved from California to that hotbed of academia - Hilo, Hawaii - to become President of the unaccredited "Greenwich University," - after California authorities moved to close down Calfornia's notorious degree mill industry. (Hawaii is one of the few remaining states that still has no effective regulation of unaccredited "degree granting" schools. The Bears acknowledge in their book that Hawaii has become the preferred destination of bogus schools kicked out of California). So, the Bears are uniquely qualified to write about bogus schools
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