We're constantly reminded of the people who are productive coders without a college degree so the counter-example is well established. I don't think you'll get

We're constantly reminded of the people who are productive coders without a college degree so the counter-example is well established. I don't think you'll get anyone to go along with "lack of college study of CS will CAUSE, inevitably, lack of basic programming knowledge". In the general case however, a majority of people who start college degrees (there are exceptions, again, such as MIT but those colleges put out a very small percentage of graduates) don't have programming experience. Surely you wouldn't want someone like who I was before college, just a regular guy who would chat a lot online, sometimes play video games (but not much), had written some mIRC scripts and a web page (static HTML with dreamweaver), installed linux a few times but didn't like it much, could build a computer from parts bought separately, did most of the extended family's tech support and took a VB class in high school (your average pre-college geek) to be coding the software you do your online banking with. The great benefit of college is to show you just how much there is available to know. The field is huge. College orients you in every direction and, if you let it, guides you a few steps down the path in every way. Which path(s) you ultimately choose to follow are up to you but at least you know they're there, have a solid grounding to work on and know how to go about getting to your destination. Some people can get there on their own. Most wouldn't have a clue where to start.