My CS program focused strongly on OO and our core language was Java. Exceptions were a regular subject and part of assignments. It seems insane that someone could have a CS degree and not know something so simple and fundamental.
Java is not computer science. Exception handling is not computer science. "Something so simple and fundamental" yes, but again, completely unrelated to computer science.
Anyone with half a brain can learn a new language via self study. I would be royally pissed if that's what I was taught in college. I'd go back and ask for a refund.
And, on that note, I would say that learning to build robust systems is important. I split my time between CS and EE at college, and in many ways the EE stuff was more useful because after a certain point it wasn't enough to create an amplifier with a few transistors - you had to design an amp that did common-mode rejection, handled noise, dealt with normal tolerances of parts, and so on.
Exceptions are a way of building robust code (not the only way). I would say I'd want that mode of thinking taught. Very, very few graduates are actually going to go on and do original research into algorithms or teach. An engineering education goes a long way in my book.