Bears' Guide to Earning Degrees by Distance Learning by John Bear, et al (Paperback) 15th edition
Rodney Merrill comments: I have owned just about every edition of this book—because it is the most comprehensive book on the subject.
Bears' Guide to Earning Degrees by Distance Learning by John Bear, et al (Paperback) 14th edition
Bears' Guide to the Best MBAs by Distance Learning by John Bear, et al (Paperback)
Rodney Merrill comments: Addresses 100 accredited/recognized schools offering MBA's partly or completely by distance learning. Very user-friendly.
Bears' Guide to the Best Computer Degrees by Distance Learning by John Bear, et al (Paperback)
Rodney Merrill comments: 100 schools offering computer-related degrees distance learning. Some programs are not accredited. Some require on-campus time.
Bears' Guide to the Best Education Degrees by Distance Learning by John Bear, et al (Paperback)
Rodney Merrill comments: Over 350 degree and certificate programs in education available all or partly by distance learning. Some require on-campus time.
College Degrees by Mail & Internet: 100 Accredited Schools That Offer Bachelor'S, Master'S, Doctorates, and Law Degrees by Distance Learning (College Degrees By Mail and Internet) by John Bear, et al
Rodney Merrill comments: This book contains Bears' "top 100" schools offering degrees by distance learning. The entries are exactly the same as the ones in the comprehensive guide except they've been blow up to fill an entire page. Saves wading through 1,000s of entries. Comically, I've had several people complain that there are only 100 entries. Well, I'm not sure what else you'd expect when the title says "100 accredited schools"!
Campus Free College Degrees: Thorsons Guide to Accredited College Degrees Through Distance Learning (Campus-Free College Degrees) by Marcie K. Thorson
Rodney Merrill comments: I've used the Thorson Campus-Free book almost as much as Bears' Guide. On the plus side, it covers associate through doctorate. On the downside, it offers nothing on foreign degrees.
Peterson's the Independent Study Catalog (Independent Study Catalog) by Peterson's (Paperback)
Rodney Merrill comments: This is a good general resource on individual distance learning courses. Warning: This book lists some unaccredited and even dubious programs and it doesn't make much distinction between the good, the bad, and the iffy.
The Best Distance Learning Graduate Schools : Earning Your Degree Without Leaving Home (Serial) by VICKY PHILLIPS, et al
Rodney Merrill comments: Good general guide to graduate education by distance learning.
Digital Diploma Mills: The Automation of Higher Education by David F. Noble (Hardcover) ;
Rodney Merrill comments:
In the author's words: "In recent years changes in universities, especially in North America, show that we have entered a new era in higher education, one which is rapidly drawing the halls of academe into the age of automation. Automation - the distribution of digitized course material online, without the participation of professors who develop such material - is often justified as an inevitable part of the new "knowledge-based" society. It is assumed to improve learning and increase wider access. In practice, however, such automation is often coercive in nature - being forced upon professors as well as students - with commercial interests in mind." Argues that "the trend towards automation of higher education as implemented in North American universities today is a battle between students and professors on one side, and university administrations and companies with "educational products" to sell on the other. It is not a progressive trend towards a new era at all, but a regressive trend, towards the rather old era of mass-production, standardization and purely commercial interests."
A neo-Luddite perspective, in my opinion, for I've seen nothing so mass produced and standardized than professors lecturing to a hall of 1,000 students. But it does a good job of presenting the arguments against distance learning.
How to Be a Successful Online Student by Sara Dulaney Gilbert (Paperback)
In the author's words: "Of course you need this book ... if you're not a virtual student yet, chances are you will be soon..."
Distance Learning for Dummies by Nancy Stevenson
Rodney Merrill comments: This is a good basic introduction to distance learning.
Cracking the CLEP, 4th Edition (Cracking the Clep) by TOM MELTZER, PAUL FOGLINO (Paperback)
Rodney Merrill comments: It is becoming more common for colleges to grant credit for successful completion of CLEPS. This is a good guide to what CLEP is about and how to "bone up" for it.
Earn College Credit for What You Know by Lois S. Lamdin, et al (Paperback)
Rodney Merrill comments: Good introduction to using the portfolio evaluation method to college credit.
Click Here for other distance learning selections
The entries are exactly the same as the ones in the comprehensive guide except they've been blow up to fill an entire page. Saves wading through 1,000s of entries. Comically, I've had several people complain that there are only 100 entries. Well, I'm not sure what else you'd expect when the title says "100 accredited schools"! 
On the downside, it offers nothing on foreign degrees. 
Warning: This book lists some unaccredited and even dubious programs and it doesn't make much distinction between the good, the bad, and the iffy. 
