Bears' Guide to Earning Degrees by Distance Learning
by John Bear (Paperback)
Comments:
One of the most comprehensive books on the subject.

Bears' Guide to the Best MBAs by Distance Learning
by John Bear (Paperback)
Comments:
Features informational write-ups on 100 recognized, accredited colleges and universities offering MBA degrees either partly or completely via distance learning. Very user-friendly.

Bears' Guide to the Best Computer Degrees by Distance Learning
by John Bear (Paperback)
Comments:
Showcases 100 schools that offer computer-related distance learning degree programs. Keep in mind that some of the programs featured are not accredited, while others may require some on-campus commitment.

Bears' Guide to the Best Education Degrees by Distance Learning
by John Bear (Paperback)
Comments:
Details the ins and outs of over 350 distance learning degree and certificate programs in education, available either all or partly via distance learning. While all programs featured here are accredited, some do require occasional on-campus appearances.

College Degrees by Mail & Internet: 100 Accredited Schools...
by John Bear
Comments:
Contains a "top 100" list of the best schools offering degrees via distance learning. While the entries are exactly the same as the ones in the comprehensive guide, these have been expanded to fill an entire page. Saves wading through thousands of tiny entries. Funnily enough, however, I've actually had several people complain that there are only 100 entries. I'm not sure what else you'd expect when the phrase "100 accredited schools" appears in the title!

Campus Free College Degrees: Thorsons Guide to Accredited College Degrees...
by Marcie K. Thorson
Comments:
I've used Thorson's Campus Free College Degrees almost as much as Bears' Guide. On the plus side, it covers everything from associate to doctorate degrees. On the downside, it offers no information concerning foreign degree programs.

Peterson's Independent Study Catalog (Paperback)
Comments:
A good general resource on individual distance learning courses. Be warned, however: this book features some unaccredited and even dubious programs, and doesn't even bother to make much distinction between the good, the bad, and the iffy.

The Best Distance Learning Graduate Schools...
by Vicky Phillips
Comments:
A good general guide to distance learning graduate education programs.

Digital Diploma Mills: The Automation of Higher Education
by David F. Noble (Hardcover)

"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." --Noble in Digital Diploma Mills

Comments:
As this excerpt suggests, Noble offers a neo-Luddite perspective in Digital Diploma Mills, discussing the downsides of distance learning. Read this book and decide for yourself whether or not you agree. Personally, I've seen nothing so mass-produced and impersonal as a professor lecturing to a hall of over 1000 students.

How to Be a Successful Online Student
by Sara Dulaney Gilbert (Paperback)
Comments:

As Gilbert claims here, "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
Comments:
Offers a basic but worthwhile introduction to distance learning.

Cracking the CLEP
by Tom Meltzer and Paul Foglino (Paperback)
Comments:
It is becoming increasingly common for colleges to grant academic credit for successful completion of CLEPS. Cracking the CLEP 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 (Paperback)
Comments:
Works as a good "how to" guide on how to use the portfolio evaluation method to earn college credit.