Yes but this only further waters down the already watered down legitimacy of a degree. I know a lot of people think students should be building things independently of classes but that kind of misses the point of dedicating a full time investment in guided learning at the hands of an expert instructor. If instructors graded rigorously and had a magic cheating detection too (where cheating is defined overly capaciously so that students really and unambiguously have to get creative in their work), then the degree might mean something

Universities need to produce competent graduates at a good rate to maintain their reputation.

In an ideal world, "getting an education" and "getting a degree" are the same. In reality, any overlap at all feels like a win. Which is unfortunate, because some of the best learners are terrible students, and vice versa.