Read this article this morning, thought some folks here would find it interesting. Disgruntled College Student Starts 'UnCollege' to Challenge System - Wired Campus - The Chronicle of Higher Education
This is similar to an idea that I have had. My idea is to start a community of self-learners to pool their efforts and take over the role of faculty and professors. Older versions of textbooks are dirt cheap and opencourseware are widely available for free. A community of people can work together on the opencourses, without requiring the latest texbook, and can have discussions regarding the material, tutor each other when help is needed and review each others assignments. Maybe each person can take turns being the "professor" for a week, guiding the online discussions and giving online lectures. Wouldn't that be neat?
WHAT?! So the whole point of a liberal arts education is to submit my brain, and conscience, to the manipulation of others? This is, in fact, the main reason why I didn't go to college after graduating high school.
And you are an example of someone who has done well without going. Your skill with languages has served you better than most degrees would have.
The UnCollege reminds me of another independent thinker who was not satisifed living within the bounds of traditional society.
I have a name for your new idea. How about we call it "Home Schooling" UnCollege is not a new idea, it's just a take off of UnSchooling that many fundamentalist home schoolers follow. Neat to apply it to college though.
It's not a revolutionary idea, but it also isn't something that has been widely implemented. I don't know the full details of the UnCollege vision, but for my vision, all you would need is a bunch of people who decide to learn the same thing at the same time. My idea is pretty much like livemocha.com, except it is for subjects other than languages and that there would be a synchronous, course-like structure to it.