If you find the best professors in the country, you can turn them into rockstars with online courses. Pay them like athletes, stick them online and conduct tests at a centralized location.
This wouldn’t work for every subject...but it would for very many of them.
It would put regular “community” colleges out of business. It would be relatively cheap, access could be free, and the world could learn.
But no, let’s push money at an old system.
Several of my students have done quite a bit of course work on-line including lab science courses. It is not perfect but
a good alternative to being on campus.
Another alternative, on-line courses-then bring in groups of students on campus for two to three weeks of lab courses.
That is being tried and is working in places.
For the difficult degrees in subjects like medicine and engineering, a credible central testing site would have to be a requirement. For other subjects, a simple test would suffice.
Women's studies: Men are bad. Answer - True. Ok you pass.
Ethnic studies: White people are racist. Answer - True. Ok - you pass.
History:
1. People of color are peaceful and loving and never oppressed anyone. Answer - True.
2. White men have always oppressed the entire world. Answer - True. Ok - you pass.