ULondon & Coursera

[Pikachu]

Rejects for sure, and probably not well off since if the family is rich, they could probably pay their way into a better private college. 

Honestly, if you can't make it into a tier 1 school, then just go for something cheap and accessible (if we're talking about UMPI, TESU, etc) + low barrier for entry, local CC + regional state school works as well.

why spend 20k USD on goldsmith via cousera and later have doubts later.. eg, will US graduate school accept my degree? is my 3 year UK degree the same as a US degree? I hope Best Buy knows my CS degree is legit...

point is, not everyone is fortunate enough to enter a top tier place. So you're stuck with everything else below. Then just go for something cheap, local, and minimize your debt. 

Why would you aim for Goldsmith?

With the exception of TESU, is there a single BS or BA in CS program at a state school that comes in at $18k (total, not per year) or less in the USA? Even a post-bac BS in CS like Oregon State is at $30k now. 

Your point about grad school acceptance is ill-founded, at least for STEM programs. A significant majority of the enrollment is international and they're quite familiar with foreign degrees. Most STEM graduate students in the USA are from India and China: The Disappearing American Grad Student. Same with employers not knowing about foreign degrees. Come on. There's significant number of people on H1B and other visas at tech companies and they all have foreign degrees.

The biggest issue with UoL is that it can't be accelerated to a significant extent. For CS there's a real dearth of affordable options at the undergraduate level. Strictly talking about CS here because I know there are a ton of cheap, online options for BS in IT and other such degrees.