> Thought experiment: so where's the degree for people who want practical and applicable skills and an in depth knowledge of actually building systems with the

> Thought experiment: so where's the degree for people who want practical and applicable skills and an in depth knowledge of actually building systems with the modern tools that are popular within the industry, as opposed to just being familiar with the theoretical aspects? Many European countries have a two-tiered system of higher education. There are research universities that teach both theoretical subjects (such as CS and history) and research-based applied subjects (such as medicine and law). Then there are vocational universities where the teaching focuses on more immediately applicable skills. The drawback of a system like that is that people generally consider degrees from research universities more prestigious. As a result, research universities can be more selective with their student intake and their graduates have better employment prospects. Also, when we are talking about degree-based education, the focus should always be on what is needed 10-20 years from now. The delay from making decisions to getting a nontrivial number of graduates to positions where they are ready to contribute is easily a decade. When there are more immediate needs, the industry has the responsibility to provide the necessary education.