John Bear
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John B. Bear, Ph.D. is an expert on and proponent of distance education. He holds a Bachelor's and Master's from University of California, Berkeley and a doctorate from Michigan State University.[1] He is the author of Bears' Guide to Earning Degrees by Distance Learning, and is considered an authority on which distance schools are reputable and which are not. He has been engaged by the FBI in their investigations into diploma mills for twenty years.[1]
Bear has previously been involved with several unaccredited start up distance learning institutions.
Bear's publisher, Ten Speed Press, operates the website degree.net on the subject of distance learning, which among other things maintain a list of accrediting agencies not recognized under Generally Accepted Accrediting Practices (or GAAP), i.e. accreditation mills for the most part.
In 2004, Bear was interviewed by CBS's 60 Minutes for an investigation involving Hamilton University.[2] He has also been the onscreen degree mill expert for shows like Good Morning America, Inside Edition, and American Journal. He has authored or co-authored 34 books (involving major publishers) on education, cooking, consumerism, humor, computers, and the world of publishing.
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[edit] Degree.net
Bear's publisher, Ten Speed Press, established a website www.degree.net which became inactive in 2004, but still carries some articles and excerpts from Bear's books. He also contributes to degreediscussion.com, which is a forum for discussion about institutions of higher learning.
[edit] References
[edit] Books
- Bear, John, Maria Bear (2003-01-01). Bears' Guide to Earning Degrees by Distance Learning. Ten Speed Press. ISBN 1-580-08431-1.
