I've a Computer Science degree. I did some practical stuff, but that really didn't transfer well to the business world. The school also had a lot of theory - algorithms, operating systems, low-level computing.

The one class that came closest to the real world was the seminar project, a single semester course where you developed and then presented a project. There are a few changes that I would suggest for this course: 1. Make the course longer. Two semesters at a minimum. So far I haven't been on any short projects. 2. Don't let the student select the topic. You don't get to define the requirements in the real world, why should you do it in school. 3. The professor should introduce, requirement changes, scope creep, etc. All the things that developers see during a project that aren't really mentioned in school.