With so much of this going on (iTunes Store has iTunes U as well, and there must be others) why even bother going to a university for much of a degree? Shouldn't there be a reduced tuition for those who can pass a competency exam based on self-paced online study? Sort of an Internet University BA?

Thanks bartendingbear. My kind of stuff. TED is a good intellectual site too.

Shouldn't there be a reduced tuition for those who can pass a
competency exam based on self-paced online study? Sort of an Internet
University BA?

I wholeheartedly agree....I guess the finer details of how to measure ones study and actual ability to master the content would be the blocks to awarding degrees here.
I can say without a shadow of a doubt that I have got as much---or even more--from my own internet- independent study than I have from classwork/lectures.