> If you were disciplined and didn’t care about the degree at the end, you’d get a lot more bang for your buck just by watching the YouTube videos and reading the textbook, since that’s basically the level of instruction you get.

Comparing it to my Master’s which has even less faculty involvement I doubt it. Watching videos and reading the textbook leads to the feeling you know something. Doing projects and preparing for exams, that leads to genuine learning. You learn far more working through past exam papers or doing all the questions in the textbook than you possibly could by trying to absorb information passively.