A Long-Distance Diploma

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Given this pseudoeducational minefield, says Bear, it behooves prospective students to be, if not detectives, then at least enlightened skeptics. And again, this means asking the right questions. "Any reputable school, in my experience, will not only talk about its curriculum and tell you what textbooks it uses, but it will also put you in touch with students and graduates who have expressed a willingness to be contacted," says Bear. In keeping with federal privacy laws, schools cannot release the names of current or former students without consent. But it's the rare legitimate school that will have no satisfied students or alumni willing to speak on its behalf.

Another question to pose: Who are the faculty? "No legitimate school can exert a privacy issue on this one," says Bear, though he warns that a lot of phony schools will completely fabricate their lists of instructors. "Either they will just pick names out of [other school's] catalogs, or else the more devious ones will get names by running ads—'major university needs adjunct faculty'-—in the Chronicle of Higher Education or the New York Times."

Before enrolling, ask to speak to several faculty members at the school of your choice. Inquire about their teaching methods , planned syllabi, and credentials. Says Bear, "if you look through the catalog for Century University in New Mexico which, incidentally, is accredited by an unrecognized agency—you'll notice that half the faculty received their doctorates from, you guessed it, Century University."

One foolproof way of avoiding being ripped off is to choose a known quantity. With as many as 75% of the nation's traditional, accredited two- and four-year colleges expected to have distance learning programs in place by the new millennium, that's a lot of sure bets.

And contrary to what you might think, these traditional schools are not always more expensive than their lesser known or nontraditional counterparts. The fact is, the cost of distance education courses varies widely, and so here again, it pays to scout out the best deal. Says Bear, "One thing I've learned is that in all of higher education, and distance is no exception, I find no correlation between price and quality."

Some unlucky students paid Columbia State upwards of $5,000 for a completely bogus degree. On the other end of the spectrum, MOTHER paid the American College of Metaphysical Theology a grand total of $179 for a Ph.D. (see illustration, page 76).

The tuition for a three-credit online course at Penn State will cost you about $345, or you can pay just $700 for an entire correspondence program in forestry and wildlife conservation at the DETC-accredited Professional Career and Development Institute.

"The last time I did the calculation using Peterson's excellent catalog," notes Bear, "the per-credit cost for doing a distance course ranged from $10 to more than $200.

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