The problem here is not practical knowledge. It's lack of systematic thinking. When you are in class you need to be an active learner! You need to be able to relate what you are taught with what is in use today! When you learn about UNIX, you learn about the architecture that runs OSX. So yes, it has a practical application. When you learn about Operating Systems, you learn about the fundamentals needed to improve on and contribute to the Linux Kernel etc. Very little has changed fundamentally in technology. We like educating people in silo's so people assume that cramming will allow them to succeed, yet the greatest successes in technology come from people who are able to give practical uses to technology. 

You are in school to learn how to accumulate and apply knowledge in a certain field. A CS Major should make one comfortable to work in most areas in ICT, as all they will have a compass to guide them on where to get the necessary information to accomplish a certain task. Maybe the problem is that most people copied their way through assignments in campus but if you think about it, the lecturer gives you certain knowledge then asks you to *RESEARCH* and come up with a solution. That thinking should be applied to the work environment! That's why it is, in theory, preparatory to a career in the IT field...