In response to your article "University should not begin to consider online education"?(Forum, Aug. 25): I had my doubts about higher education online-until I became involved in it professionally. I have taught online graduate courses for three years, and I find that my students, spread over North America and beyond, work hard, learn a great deal and consistently meet and exceed my rather demanding expectations.

Comparison to the for-profit University of Phoenix is a classic straw man argument. No one is proposing that Brandeis become a diploma mill.

The opportunity to offer a limited number of courses taught by Brandeis faculty members to students who cannot attend a full-time residential program for four years can enhance the University's reputation, broaden the student body (online students are often older and more experienced, and they are likely to live far from Waltham) and perhaps provide needed revenue. All of that is consistent with the University's mission.

In a world in which "if you are not virtual, you are not real," an online teaching component might even be a necessary expansion of the University's activities.

Peretz Rodman '75, M.A. '83