Online education is a way to meet the growing need for affordable bachelor of sciences in nursing degrees ("Online Education," Professional Development, May). Given the demands of today's health care system and the nursing school faculty shortage, online nursing programs offer wait-listed traditional students a cheaper alternative. Such programs are not secondary to traditional ones, and as a student who has participated in both traditional and online programs, I have found my online program to be more challenging and to require greater dedication.

Online education is a tool universities can use to increase program capacity because it's not limited by geography and to save money because they don't have to pay for classrooms and can recruit qualified field instructors to work with university professors. All of these things make the degree more convenient and affordable for the working student.

Brad McCrobie, BSN, RN

Elizabethtown, KY