Did he say this or that??

[Randall Flagg]

John Bear now likes to say he never recommended unaccredited schools to anyone. He now claims to have said that "If you are absolutely sure an unaccredited school will meet your present and future needs it might be an ok choice." He tells us (today) that those unaccredited degrees were from merely dreadful schools or worse. He says that unaccredited schools are problematic and too light.  In other words he always warned people to be very careful and that these degrees very rarely worked, but that's not what he said, not at all. And today he tells us they were really pretty bad. But what did he say back then?  Did he say they were to be used rarely and carefully?  

What did he really say. Let's take a look.
1 "Many very good schools (or departments within schools) are not accredited."
2  "It is important to remember that lack of accreditation need not mean that a school is either inferior or illegal."
3 "There are some legitimate and useful unaccredited schools."
4 "Some OUTSTANDING nontraditional schools are run from relatively small suites and offices."
5  "A few sincere, very low-budget schools have even operated without a telephone for a while."
6 "Another unaccredited university has letters from Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, among others, indicating a willingness to consider their students for admission to graduate school."
7 "Many job descriptions specify that a certain degree is required, or that additional salary will be paid, if a certain degree is held. In MANY of these situations, a good unaccredited degree will suffice."
8 "Many nontraditional degrees are good for MOST people in MOST situations."
9 "A nonresident Doctorate, earned through a combination of life-experience credit and new work, from one of the better unaccredited state-licensed universities may be of minimal value in getting a faculty position at Harvard. But such degrees have PROVED USEFUL in MANY cases for advancement in business, government, and industry, not to mention doing WONDERS for self-image and gaining respect of others."
10  "It remains the case that many, many folks' needs can be filled by degrees from the more reputable unaccredited schools."

"I have supported the concept of unaccredited degrees vigorously for 21 years. I have written untold hundreds, probably thousands of letters, in support of people who have problems with well earned but unaccredited degrees from DOZENS of schools."
--John Bear--AED--Feb. 1, 1995  

He told us they worked and were decent to good choices for over two decades. He called Kennedy Western-Summit University-Adam Smith University.....etc. good schools. We listened, we thought him an honest man, we thought him intelligent, we thought he knew what he was talking about, we bought what he was selling. The lesson here.

Just because a used car salesman tells you it is a good car doesn't make it so. He can, as has John Bear, sing a new song as soon as it is to his benefit. Then CPU is wonderful, now, it's Excelsior--it's the next thing to Heaven. A school that you can get wonderful degrees in only 3-6 months. Think a professor at Harvard agrees with Bear? not likely. Think Bear or his wife would have used Excelsior? again, not likely. Will Bear still say Excelsior or TESC are just as accredited as Ohio State University in ten years? I doubt it.

Don't depend on the used car salesman for honesty and integrity and advice on what to buy. He is selling something and wants your money. He will sell you any car on the lot. The money is all the same to him.

[Randall Flagg]

John Bear supported unaccredited degrees for 21 years and did it Vigorously. Those are his words, not mine, HIS.  

That support is what we saw and heard. Now how surprising is it that buyers of his guides followed his ideas and obtained unaccredited degrees? Of course none of these people ever thought that there would be a gang or that Bear would be leading the assult. Who could have imagined that Bear would attack those who bought what he sold? The man who was a minority owner in CPU, helped set up the school, and later, much later, attacked a man (John Gray) who got a degree from that very same school. And best of all, Bear was still there at CPU at the time Gray was doing the doctorate. Bear damned a man for doing what he (Bear) said was good. One of the owners bashed a graduate. Now ain't that nice of him.

[DR ANATIDAE]

John Bear now likes to say he never recommended unaccredited schools to anyone. He now claims to have said that "If you are absolutely sure an unaccredited school will meet your present and future needs it might be an ok choice." He tells us (today) that those unaccredited degrees were from merely dreadful schools or worse. He says that unaccredited schools are problematic and too light.  In other words he always warned people to be very careful and that these degrees very rarely worked, but that's not what he said, not at all. And today he tells us they were really pretty bad. But what did he say back then?  Did he say they were to be used rarely and carefully?  

What did he really say. Let's take a look.
1 "Many very good schools (or departments within schools) are not accredited."
2  "It is important to remember that lack of accreditation need not mean that a school is either inferior or illegal."
3 "There are some legitimate and useful unaccredited schools."
4 "Some OUTSTANDING nontraditional schools are run from relatively small suites and offices."
5  "A few sincere, very low-budget schools have even operated without a telephone for a while."
6 "Another unaccredited university has letters from Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, among others, indicating a willingness to consider their students for admission to graduate school."
7 "Many job descriptions specify that a certain degree is required, or that additional salary will be paid, if a certain degree is held. In MANY of these situations, a good unaccredited degree will suffice."
8 "Many nontraditional degrees are good for MOST people in MOST situations."
9 "A nonresident Doctorate, earned through a combination of life-experience credit and new work, from one of the better unaccredited state-licensed universities may be of minimal value in getting a faculty position at Harvard. But such degrees have PROVED USEFUL in MANY cases for advancement in business, government, and industry, not to mention doing WONDERS for self-image and gaining respect of others."
10  "It remains the case that many, many folks' needs can be filled by degrees from the more reputable unaccredited schools."

"I have supported the concept of unaccredited degrees vigorously for 21 years. I have written untold hundreds, probably thousands of letters, in support of people who have problems with well earned but unaccredited degrees from DOZENS of schools."
--John Bear--AED--Feb. 1, 1995  

This is surely not the same man who:

   Contacted numerous employers about staff members with  
           unaccredited degrees
   Contacted universities about students with unaccredited degrees
   Contacted Danish news media about Knightsbridge University (and
           boasted about it)
   Contacted the Danish Education Authorities about Knightsbridge
   In 2002 told me that if I wanted I wanted a real degree I should  
           look at Greenwich, Fairfax or KWU
   Made pleasant comments about my brown teal management manual
           then referred to me as an UNEDUCATED BUFFOON
   Made $50,000, in very quick time, selling fake degrees

Etc., etc., etc.?

[Randall Flagg]

John sold us the "Unaccredited Schools."
He is now selling Douglas and the rest on the "Bottom End RA Schools."

In ten years, most likely he will have a brand new bunch of guys to laugh at.

Year 2017
Reporter: Mr. Bear is it true that Excelsior provided thousands of degrees that were very substandard?
Bear: Yes, sorry to say, many people were deceived and misled by this very challenged school.
Reporter: But I thought you said it was just as accredited as any accredited school.
Bear: That's true but I also said that people must be very careful to be sure that it was  what they needed today and in the foreseeable future. Obviously many people failed to heed my very pointed warning. For those few people who might benefit from a degree from these fourth tier DL schools, perhaps, just perhaps, they are an ok choice in a small minority of cases.
Reporter: So you feel these people ignored your professional advice?
Bear: Absolutely, believe me I would never have recommended this level of school, fourth tier, for people looking for academic or professional careers. It just wasn't that level of education.
Reporter: Was it ever a real school?
Bear: It was legal if that's what you mean but hardly more.
Reporter: What schools do you recommend to avoid all these problems?
Bear: The schools I have recommended for more than 40 years. The best schools you can afford. Trying to make do with fourth tier RA schools is just asking for problems, forget them. These people who keep wanting these quickie degrees because they are easier and cheaper are just being lazy and ignorant. If you refuse to spend the time to get real degrees from real schools, just take a nice trip, it beats wasting your money on these barely accredited schools and you can at last be honest about what you did.
Reporter: There you have it folks, real advice from a real expert, John Bear. By the way you can contact John for details on his latest book. Bears' Guide 20th Edition, Only First Tier RA DL Schools Listed. Price: Just $49.95 and it comes with an autographed picture of John Bear.  


Now this is what I figure old John will be saying.  

[Brian Crawford]

John sold us the "Unaccredited Schools."
He is now selling Douglas and the rest on the "Bottom End RA Schools."

In ten years, most likely he will have a brand new bunch of guys to laugh at.

Year 2017
Reporter: Mr. Bear is it true that Excelsior provided thousands of degrees that were very substandard?
Bear: Yes, sorry to say, many people were deceived and misled by this very challenged school.
Reporter: But I thought you said it was just as accredited as any accredited school.
Bear: That's true but I also said that people must be very careful to be sure that it was  what they needed today and in the foreseeable future. Obviously many people failed to heed my very pointed warning. For those few people who might benefit from a degree from these fourth tier DL schools, perhaps, just perhaps, they are an ok choice in a small minority of cases.
Reporter: So you feel these people ignored your professional advice?
Bear: Absolutely, believe me I would never have recommended this level of school, fourth tier, for people looking for academic or professional careers. It just wasn't that level of education.
Reporter: Was it ever a real school?
Bear: It was legal if that's what you mean but hardly more.
Reporter: What schools do you recommend to avoid all these problems?
Bear: The schools I have recommended for more than 40 years. The best schools you can afford. Trying to make do with fourth tier RA schools is just asking for problems, forget them. These people who keep wanting these quickie degrees because they are easier and cheaper are just being lazy and ignorant. If you refuse to spend the time to get real degrees from real schools, just take a nice trip, it beats wasting your money on these barely accredited schools and you can at last be honest about what you did.
Reporter: There you have it folks, real advice from a real expert, John Bear. By the way you can contact John for details on his latest book. Bears' Guide 20th Edition, Only First Tier RA DL Schools Listed. Price: Just $49.95 and it comes with an autographed picture of John Bear.  


Now this is what I figure old John will be saying.  

The Year, 2017
Geroldo At Large

Reporter: Mr. Bear, isn't it true that throughout the 1970s and 1980s you recommended in your degree guides that state licensed or approved degrees like Summit University, Columbia Pacific University and many others were good enough because employers don't care if the school is accredited or not, just that you have a degree?

JB: I don't recall making that specific statement. I have always warned my readers that they whould make sure the degree will meet their immediate and future needs.

Reporter: So you didn't say that?

JB: I just don't recall that specific statement. I would have to review my comments and if that statement was made, it must have been a printing error. That's why I changed publishers.

Reporter: So you deny ever recommending unaccredeited degree programs which evaluate your life experience towards college credit?

JB: I cannot agree or deny that I made that statement. I can only say, that I don't recall making that specific statement.

Reporter: Oh, so you are merely denying the exact working of the statement.

JB: I didn't say that, now you are twisting my response.

Reporter: So you cahnge your opinion on a decade to decade basis Mr. Bear.

JB: No, I am forced to change my mind as events change.

Reporter: Then can you tell me what those events are?

JB: I have to go help my wife with her doctorate work on her third Ph.D. in Ethics. It was fun talking with you.

[Randall Flagg]

Bear would probably have been on her committee.  It would seem to me she wouldn't want to think a lot about ethics while being married to the "Salesman."

Bear is a used car salesman who produced a guide book on buying good used cars. His main theme, "Used cars are good, and mine are best."  Then, of course, times changed, he found a better deal. He then started saying, "Don't waste your hard earned money on those useless used cars. Buy one of my brand New Yugos. Sure you may have to push it once and awhile, but it's NEW, and my little bitty old commission is so very tiny, you'll hardly even notice it. Only ignorant-uneducated-buffoons drive used cars. All the real people drive the New Yugos. Let me show you this nice Little Excelsior Yugo, it's our latest model. Let me hook up the battery charger and we'll have this baby fired up in no time. Don't worry about that rust it'll wipe right off."

[ham]

I ran a web search on a different subject, and there popped up this ad for a new "degree guide", phonebook thing Bear-style.
they guaranteed hassle-free, fast degrees from REGIONALLY ACCREDITED (unnamed in the ad ) SOURCES, entirely or so based on prior-learing, life experience etc.
So used cars are still a hot commodity.

[Randall Flagg]

There will always be people willing to sell the best pie on earth. But when they switch companies, a different pie becomes the best.  

Back in the 1970's-80's-90's, I never thought that schools such as Summit..Greenwich..Columbia Pacific..Kennedy Western..Newport..Kensington..CCU.., were among the very best in America. I'm sure Bear knew better as did most of his buying public. And I never thought Harvard..Yale..Princeton, were out there just dying to scoop up the graduates of CPU for their graduate schools, just wasn't so. He (Bear) said that crap to try and hype his own schools and the ones he was pushing. It also helped to  sell the guides if he could present all types of schools. Not everyone wanted the same thing, and many wanted it a little faster and easier, and they certainly wanted it all cheaper.

Now Bear does his "I take it all back---They were really terrible schools, except for mine which were a little better."  

We also get the new statements praising the worst and easiest of the RA school--Excelsior..TESC..Charter Oak..Union.....etc. It's the same damn story using different schools.

Hell, if you want the best do the best, if you can do with less that's fine too, but don't get caught up in this new, bad is good stuff from Bear.

Schools like Newport and Kensington were real schools and offered legal degrees that had usage and acceptance. They weren't the best and aren't the best, and neither are TESC and Union. The unaccredited schools still offer legality and usage, as do the 4th tier DL RA schools. If you can live with less than the best all these schools offer value. But if you want to brag and prance around calling yourself an academic and telling everyone what a great education you got, how everyone accepts it, do us a favor, really do it. Use Michigan or Penn. State..maybe the University of Tennessee. Don't use Union and then bore us to death with senseless hype and jabber. You can call a mule a horse but you won't win any races.

I liked the unaccredited schools then and now. They offered value, especially in the private sector, then and now. Use them if you wish, they are far from useless and also far from the best, they are simply part of the rest.

And if you want to do it easier, faster and cheaper RA style...then Excelsior...TESC...Union...*UOP are also decent choices...but NOT the best. They have their limitations, they are not recognized as being the same as the University of Texas...despite what John Bear now sings. You have to pay to hear him sing...remember that. And he sings the songs he likes to hear.

*isn't cheaper