Certification (Score 1)

Universities are educational institutions, but they do more than simply educate. They also certify. That is what the testing and diplomas are for. The school is saying that you have been exposed to a set of material. An online university can not provide that for all the issues of cheating that have been mentioned. But, it can provide very good educational resources (something along the lines of lectures) that can be improved with time and made into a very useful resource.