Why do schools do this? Several reasons.
There is much more to the software business than bits and bytes. Arguably, these are not nearly as important as services that make the software useful
This is certainly true for courses. Is the only value the professor provides is lecture notes and a syllabus. No, at least not at the best schools with the best students who want to be challenged. Plus as you note the networking is the value of many programs (particularly professional degrees).

Public and non-profit universities nominally have a public service ethos and responsibility, so giving stuff away for the betterment of mankind is something that can be justified to stakeholders.

But, in the end, colleges give away courseware the same reason that companies give away software: because the cannibalization risk is low relative to the PR benefits. The free customers (as with open source) have to be either new or marginal (low value ones). It's not like Microsoft will give away Windoze in the developed world, at least as long as it provides 29% of revenues and 61% of pretax profits.

OpenCourseWares are valuable and encouraging resources for self-learners of the world, too.

Classroom experiences and academic recognitions are inherently lacking but it motivates and enhances individual knowledge for a better world.

Thanks for your article.

One thing the WSJ missed in their article: Schools around the world sharing courseware have formed the OpenCourseWare Consortium. We've launched a portal at: http://ocwconsortium.org

I take pride in the fact that there is so much to learn that unless we take it upon ourselves to do so we might be overwhelmed in the "sea of information overload". This is the paradox we are left with. The traditional methods of learning in our society, in my opinion, do not concentrate on the crux of the problem - thinking skills.

The best universities in the world could give away all their course material...heck they could even give away free 1-on-1 time with the professor (once that cloning stuff gets sorted out), without any real impact on university registrations or tuition income.

(Free) course material & (free) interaction with professors is great, but it's the degree that gets you a job. The ability to grant degrees of varying quality (i.e. one from Stanford vs. one from Stamfred U.) is their livelihood. And universities are still charging for that right.

I echo the above post. Students enroll at MIT for the degrees and high-brow peers and opportunities. Course contents are pretty much normailized across all disciplines at quality universities. How many ways can you explain Quantum Theory? MIT will not stop attracting top notch bright students available in the pool by open the course contents. And yet the benefits are immeasurable to those who are in more needs of such quality material. Kudos.