Every time I read something like this, I feel grateful for my university.

I wrote out code on paper in one class. Other than that, every single CS course was project-based on some level (even the theory courses) and once you got past the theory-heavy Sophomore-level courses most classes were 100% project-based. In the required classes alone I built web apps, android apps, interpreters, DNS clients and servers, static analysis tools, and dozens of other practical/educational projects in C, C++, Java, Python, and JavaScript. We finished off the program with a capstone project, working on a year-long real-world project sponsored by a local company.

Point being: which school you went to seems to make a big difference in your perception of the value of a degree, and some schools' diplomas will have higher signal-to-noise ratio on a resume than others.