Yes, I love this model where you can effectively educate yourself for free, or train for a certification without paying. Then you can Suntzu it (as it were) and only pay to take exams for a course you know you'll pass.
Allow me to highlight that this works for certifications and not degrees. For an actual degree, you'll still need to pay through the nose, meet attendance requirements, and complete coursework before you may sit for the exam.
I've done home based learning at degree level with the Open University in the UK (they're a degree awarding body). It's possible to not have any contact throughout the course and just turn up and sit the exam. Tutorial sessions are not compulsory though many (possibly all, I don't know) courses have a continuous assessment element.
I wouldn't describe the fees then as 'paying through the nose', certainly not in comparison to professional IT certifications.
Depends on the uni/college but attendance may not be required, and with the move to online learning you may still have to pay through the nose, all you have to do is pass all of the assignments and you are set... so you can educate yourself ahead of time and coast through the classes once you are comfortable with them.
I'm not sure if you were being sarcastic or not, but if you know the material, does it matter how you acquired that knowledge? Many Universities do allow credit-by-examination because of this very reason.