Most of these classes would fall under the heading of "light entertainment for people with the money to afford it."
Take a look at this one:
https://continuingstudies.stanford.edu/courses/detail/20241_...
It doesn't claim that Anja Lee has anything to do with Stanford, except for teaching this class.
https://continuingstudies.stanford.edu/courses/detail/20241_...
You probably do learn something about photography from Mr. Feria for your $480.
I'm not sure what more people would expect, being hired to teach a class or classes is how a decent percentage of the people that how have anything to do with Stanford have to do with Stanford.
The difference then is scope of instruction. I think high quality certification programs are quite valuable to the market and properly run ones but trusted institutions are a benefit for the institution and the marketplace.
Classic cry of the people who want to regulate and control everything.
Maybe if the certificate is worthless, the students will figure it out? Maybe by doing a little research before they invest their money and time.
I know that for a course to be eligible for government reimbursement under any program (job training, GI Bill, etc.) the government has to investigate it. So presumably the bad ones are either already ineligible, or someone's not doing their job.
If every tom dick and harry has a stanford cert in their resume, the value of the brand diminishes. so, you are from stanford, big deal, i got a certification too.
