> Well, they don't. That's why the classes are taught by nameless graduate students.
This depends on the school, we have full professors teaching all the classes in my department (although they let us 'nameless' grad students do labs and I think discussion sections).
> The primary value proposition at an undergraduate school is the other undergraduates, not the lecturers.
That's somewhat fair -- although undergrads can do some research here, if they push for it.
This seems like something of an odd position. From one perspective, why do you need the degree? If you have the skill, then you have the skill.
But if you take the opposite perspective, and having a degree is important... community colleges don't award them. Go to a community college and you get an associate's degree, not a baccalaureate degree. It's kind of like having a GED.
> Why do people want to pay world-renown researchers to teach them programming 101? It is like having Stephen King teach introductory grammar
Well, they don't. That's why the classes are taught by nameless graduate students. The primary value proposition at an undergraduate school is the other undergraduates, not the lecturers.