There are a small or large number of people seeking to further their own knowledge (depending on which specific university you are attending, it seems), however most university curriculum could be reduced to a year or two of self study. Most of the focus is on the schools perceived performance (as measured by testing, GPA, attendance, etc) My particular University stops giving programming projects after 2nd year for students following the Software Engineering course meaning many students have not programmed in 2 years when they graduate, although from what I hear this is not normal for all schools in my area, however I suspect it is because many students could not handle programming above a 101 level.
This has led to an increase reliance of student groups: those that have a thirst for learning great student groups focusing on self study whether for improving class performance or just learning for the sake of learning. However often times if a group gets too successful the college they are a part of entices them with offers of making their group into an official class for school credit, which transfers control to a professor, again creating the problem where performance is measured by tests, and the cycle repeats when a new wave of students join the college.
