March 17, 2000

The Virtues of Virtual Education

To the Editor:

Over all, I enjoyed "A Choice of Transformations for the 21st-Century University" (Opinion, February 4). However, I beg to differ with James J. Duderstadt's conclusion that distance universities "couldn't offer a residential component." A university program in distance education does not rule out residential meetings, albeit at greater intervals of time. Many long-standing M.B.A. programs for working professionals meet for a week or two a year;