[embeng4096]

I think your university may have fallen short of its goals for the EE or robotics programs.

My EE major started with circuit theory, had labs with Arduinos and advanced to digital logic (embedded software) theory along with labs using professional-grade microcontrollers (TI MSP430, I think). Senior design capstone took us through schematic capture + PCB layout and getting a board fabbed. We did the soldering and populating components on the custom boards ourselves. Granted that was using Mentor Graphics and not Altium, which seems to be industry-standard, but it was still relevant and practical coursework.

[GianFabien]

The quality of university education varies greatly internationally as well as within the larger countries. Funding and the ability to attract top educators varies greatly.

It should be noted that Arduinos came about to greatly lower the cost of teaching embedded systems engineering. It really took off from there.