The problem has always been that University branding matters, so a Cambridge degree counts as real in a way that an Open University degree doesn't. (http://www.open.ac.uk/)

In the same way, the new online courses are not good enough. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disruptive_innovation)

This problem has been bad because some people are hardworking and talented enough but are excluded from places like Cambridge and Harvard for socially damaging reasons: the are from the wrong background, too poor etc etc.

It would always have been saner to separate the credentials from the expensive on-site-tuition, so the poor kid from Madras would find it easier to get his Cambridge degree (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srinivasa_Ramanujan)

But the University prestige has allowed places like Harvard and Stanford to jack up the list prices of their fees, and their competitors nationally and internationally have followed along. The top US places have been able to do so, I have been told, because of the expansion of student loan availability, leading to a pricing level that may not be feasible. (http://www.theonion.com/articles/man-has-alarming-level-of-p...)

The result is that colleges may have priced themselves out of the market (http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2116059,00.ht...) (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-22/five-reasons-colleg...)

I hope more Universities do the right thing, and respond in an accommodating manner, as Wisconsin has done, as a way to climb down from that tree. It's about time. (http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/01/25/public-univers...)