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The way I look at higher education is that it gives you (it should give you anyway) both basic knowledge and guided experience in some field. At the end of some program, you should understand the currently accepted causes, effects, history, and context of some concept, as well as how to employ all of that to achieve some measure of value. The guidance through this process and the confidence that what is being presented is true is what you pay for. Particularly in engineering, that guidance is sometimes what prevents you from killing yourself or someone else before you know any better.
It is certainly possible to do all those things without an accredited degree using the internet. But let's not forget that the internet will also tell you with great enthusiasm that the earth is flat, buying luxury CUEVs is the solution to all your problems, and that drinking chlorine will make you immune to the coronavirus.
It also gives employers a standard set of expected knowledge and experience that an entry-level applicant with an accredited degree has. The applicant might still be an idiot, but at least it narrows the field down to people with the technical qualifications.
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