Part of the problem with this whole thread is that there are lots of colleges out there, and lots of students, and they all have different goals, and expectatio

Part of the problem with this whole thread is that there are lots of colleges out there, and lots of students, and they all have different goals, and expectations. I went to university in the 90s and got degree in comp science. Their stance was not "preparing us for a job" but rather creating an understanding of computers, algorithms, and so on. The theory was "learning how they work" means that on the job you make more informed decisions. For example - in databases understanding theory (3rd normal form, searching, sorting etc) leads to better database design (in any database). Learning everything about one database (in our case Informix) is not necessary. For my career, this approach worked well. I've been able to easily transition to new things, the fundamentals don't change, just the syntax. But, when choosing a college, it's important to align your expectations with their strategy. Most disillusionment either college happens when these don't align.