What you actually lose and gain

The teaching content is often identical. What differs is everything around it. On campus you get unplanned contact — the question after the seminar, the person beside you in the lab, the notice board, the society. Online you get flexibility, a lower total cost, and the ability to keep earning, which for many people is the difference between studying and not studying at all.

Be honest about which of those you actually need. Somebody who already has a professional network and needs the credential is well served online. Somebody changing field entirely, who knows nobody in it, is buying the corridor as much as the curriculum — and online will not sell them one.