That seems to be direction that some organisations are taking MOOCs. I know here Rwanda, there's new pilot program called Kepler[1] which is going to use MOOCs as the primary teaching tool, but have students sit exams (under observation) for a "competency based" degree offered by a university in the US.
That sounds interesting. From the home page, it even seems that the program offers housing with other students, giving them a good study environment. The tuition seems to be around $1000-$1500 - I don't know what the average income is in Rwanda, but I assume that this is manageable for most people?
It's comparable to what local universities charge, and they have no problem attracting students - the quality of education might not be great but you need a degree for most government jobs, and other employers place a lot of weight on that piece of paper that says you're educated. The government also provides a lot of scholarships and loans.
[1] http://cloudmeetscampus.com/