MOOCs might replace a traditional university for a few people, but the top universities will remain around. The major benefit to college is not the academics, but the social connections you make. For hackers, this might be meeting a fellow hacker to start a company with. For a director, it might mean meeting an actress to star in a movie. For a businessperson it might mean getting a job at a friend's dad's company.

The central idea behind MOOCs is that education is expensive now. It isn't -- just go to the library and pick up a book. Completely free, and if you're disciplined enough, probably pretty close to a university quality education. I'll concede that this doesn't apply to hard science education where you need sophisticated labs, but it does apply to a lot of students' fields of study.

When most people think "education", they aren't talking about learning, but the complete package of learning, social activities, and making connections. That is expensive. You need a nice campus with plenty of green space to lie about and play frisbee. You need a nice gym, a welcoming student center, and a nice dorm area for people to socialize. If you were to build a campus solely around education, it would probably be pretty cheap. Just buy up some cheap office space in a nondescript office buildings, and have professors give lectures there. But this isn't what students want.