I think it varies from university to university. In the States, funding from the state continues to diminish. Use to be 70-80% of cost, now it's closer to 40% (depending on the state). So Universities are being forced to see students as customers rather than products, which is a long-winded way of saying they're going to charge more for online than in-person. University I attend it charge about 1.5-2x per credit for online than in-person class. ridiculous, but whatcha gonna do. I can't fix the political aspect, but I can try and at least make it a meaningful experience for students.
I thought you were going to tell me it is the same as... but more? Even the same would be taking the piss as far as I am concerned -- no need to hire a room, libraries are possibly online ones, exams taken in combined blocks with others, professors can do things somewhat on their own time...
For many many years (pre internet -- they used to broadcast their stuff at 2am-6am over the air as well as send printed books) in the UK there has been a thing called the open university which is a distance learning thing, fairly highly regarded actually as anybody that used it presumably used to also have to hold down a job and not have someone standing over them to motivate them. Cost wise was about in line, if a bit cheaper, and usually well financed with seriously low value loans (one I did, postgrad level, was a bit over a grand and paid back over 3 months... cost over the loan value was about £60 (no typo)). Today most universities I see UK wise are going the other way and having satellite campuses in various places, including London of all places.
That said the are absolutely huge differences between US and UK approaches to university -- most don't have optional modules until years 2 or 3, even then said options are directly tied to your course, the idea of an undeclared major is unheard of (closest you get is courses like natural sciences which are pretty hardcore most of the time and still very much sciences that would allow you to science at the end of it or go for a masters in something if you did care to specialise), most do them in 3 years (nothing like a 2 year course really, 4 years means you did a foundation year or a masters), costs are going up/have gone up considerably (
https://www.statista.com/statistics...-average-debt-on-entry-to-repayment-timeline/ ) but the conditions on loans are nothing like the US (only people with student loan worries or rushing to get a job in the UK are those that took out credit cards, or find the payments effectively reduce their income by a few grand a year while they are working which makes getting/saving for a house a bit harder), working at the same time is largely optional (some do, most don't, summers are also optional), for the most part you are a peer rather than a learning child to be coddled (though it is changing) and I think that is most things for now.
