Most CS students aren't aiming to be computer scientists (which typically requires a PhD), they just want a job. And software engineering jobs demand CS degrees.
I'm glad that people are creating alternatives to the traditional 4-year CS degree. But personally I think the solution isn't going to involve students paying tens of thousands of dollars to learn information that's available for free online.
The problem is that Computer Science has not been able to mature enough to split programming/Software Engineering into another, separate degree. You do not need a PhD to become a Computer Scientist. If you want to do research and development for a company, it helps but is not necessary. Academia does require it, but that still is not a restriction. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitfield_Diffie one of the co-developers of the Diffie-Hellman key exchange. He never achieved a PhD, yet helped break ground in crypto.
I'm glad that people are creating alternatives to the traditional 4-year CS degree. But personally I think the solution isn't going to involve students paying tens of thousands of dollars to learn information that's available for free online.