What Makes a Degree?

Let’s talk about a college degree – what is the increase of knowledge comprised of? Meaning, if you take Alice and baseline her knowledge and skill in a subject, then send her to college for two years to get a masters degree in that subject, what are the specific sources of the change? For example, maybe we say this: Reading the required texts: 25% Attending the lectures: 20% Doing the assignments: 15% Completing a practicum: 15% Talking with professors: 15% Networking with other students: 10% Would that be fair? I don’t think there’s a clear answer here, and I’m sure it varies from institution to institution (and student to student, and subject to subject), but I think I’m somewhere in the ballpark. My question then becomes: can we replicate this outside of a formal university? If you wanted the knowledge that came with a degree, but didn’t care in the slightest about the formal credential, could you create a structured program to give you the same knowledge and skill as if you had…