This is it -- colleges and universities are desperate for butts in seats ~> admissions standards slip ~> first year is remedial ~> lots of stuff gets dropped in

This is it -- colleges and universities are desperate for butts in seats ~> admissions standards slip ~> first year is remedial ~> lots of stuff gets dropped in later years. Another major consideration: "CS degree" is a misnomer in the US. We have thousands of colleges and universities that vary from "best in the world" the "literally fraudulent". I've even come across a few small colleges where the CS department is staffed entirely by people with a few years of industry experience and an MS, who likely wouldn't even clear the bar for a senior eng role.