Not mentioned in the article is something I haven't heard much about since its debut, but sounds like a great idea, Mozilla's OpenBadges project. http://openbadges.org/
If you want to acquire skills I think online courses are great. Math and computer science are sure to make a transition to online quickly as the method of teaching them is pretty straight forward. But I think the article misses a huge advantage that some students (not all) get from a college or university: connections. Most students don't realize that college is a place to start socializing with people in the industry, or start working with a professor. Today I think college is viewed as a specialized extended education (but something that is required to get a job) and with that view spending outrageous amounts of money to learn a skill is a terrible idea. The reason people spend 150k to go to MIT isn't (or rather shouldn't be) to just learn a skill better, but its because of the connections that come from that institution.
I tend to agree; I didn't go the traditional route, opting for the Navy instead, and missing my chance later. As a result, I spend a lot more of my time looking for and developing contacts and people who are interested in the same things I am. Another missed point: it's difficult to build a house if you don't know how, and that's how I feel about education. You can cherrypick your learning and, certainly, further your education, but brick-and-mortar schools tell you in what order to stack those pieces of knowledge. They teach you how to build the house from the materials you've gathered.
While going to a university will obviously teach you a lot, I feel as if students are often able to educate themselves with books or online resources. However, I don't see the trend in businesses requiring college degrees changing any time soon. It's an unfortunate fact that in today's world you need to spend money in order to gain money.
That's not always true. In the creative IT industry, what matters is that you have personal or professional examples of work showing that you can code/design proficiently and you get the job. In fact, degrees can be a hindrance in an industry where technology moves so fast. By the time you graduate, your knowledge is obsolete.It's an unfortunate fact that in today's world you need to spend money in order to gain money.
I don't think there's any denying that online education is a force to be reckoned with. It's still very flawed, though, and in its infancy. It will take awhile for institutions to catch up, too. We know the hazards of cubicles and of sitting, but the vast majority of businesses still requires both.