I won't discount the that there is a value in being taught by a professional educator. However, the primary sources are there for everyone. The excellent secondary sources are there for everyone. The amount of supplementary material available via the internet is very advantageous to the autodidact. The available interactions via the internet are such that they approach a collegiate peer group (if triaged). All of this taken together and approached in a steady, determined fashion, I believe, can near to perfectly simulate a college CS education (or education in almost anything else for that matter).
Academia and college educations are getting increasingly difficult to idealize as information becomes redistributed and consumed in unsanctioned ways. And sanctioned ways, too. See all flavors of OCW.
Academia and college educations are getting increasingly difficult to idealize as information becomes redistributed and consumed in unsanctioned ways. And sanctioned ways, too. See all flavors of OCW.