That makes sense to me, Andrew. Which makes music education very much like any other tertiary education. I remember doing a management post grad cert and they spent more time giving you the first steps towards being master (or mistress) of the universe than the prosaic nuts and bolts of working with small work teams. As with all areas - you have this vast body of knowledge - you can't include everything and probably can't cover any area to the ideal (until it gets to doctorate level).
Pretty sure if music degrees were totally vocationally focused there'd be a lot of noses out of joint about that too. Someone aspiring to be an orchestral drummer might want to spend three semesters on backbeat pocket.
The art of playing dance beats with just that extra edge of juice and groove - the inner dynamics and timing control - is a folk art relying on too many intangibles to be taught as a degree course. Imagine a degree in Grooving (with first class Deep Pocket) awarded at The Steves University. Four years of relentless backbeats, still trying to get it right haha ("Darn it!!! I STILL can't get it to sound like Gadd!!" echoed through the corridors ...)