Online education has become a highly debated topic. While some educators see it as a commercialized and prepackaged form of education, one that limits the verbal skills of students, others see it as breaking down the geographical and financial barriers that many students face. Online delivery has changed education in a number of ways, increasing the speed of communication, providing easy access to research materials and encouraging the exchange of ideas. This paper looks at how the Internet has been incorporated into traditional classrooms and how the Web is being used to offer courses and degrees in virtual settings. The authors also discuss the roles of students, traditional institutions and virtual universities in e-learning. Online education has shown marked growth and with increased bandwidth, more interactive software and increased instructor acceptance, it will be increasingly adopted. (Contains 2 tables.)