Why do they need an application fee to process a simple registration form? Are we supposed to believe that they'll actually deny admissions to anyone?
And $6 million? Sure sounds like everything could be automated to require zero human input. And its not like they need a ton of resources, if their target is 15K students, that whole site could be run on a single server
Exactly how much do you think it costs to create a lesson plan or pay a teacher? Not to mention that virtually all US universities (even online ones) charge fees on top of tuition.
This is a university with professors and TAs and set coursework and graded assignments, not just a bunch of documents and automated quizzes. Wikipedia may be closer to what you want, if that's what you're looking for.
It'd be more useful if/when it is accredited, but if the coursework is even halfway decent, it's a bargain.
Also, consider the beginning and end of semeter/quarters where people register/report/check on their classes/grades. Then it can go all wrong under the load.
And $6 million? Sure sounds like everything could be automated to require zero human input. And its not like they need a ton of resources, if their target is 15K students, that whole site could be run on a single server