I had courses in data structures, networking, and operating systems, and programming was something we learned on our own to explore those subjects. Think of sorting and searching algorithms, compression techniques, discrete algebra, and OS scheduling strategies.

Yeah but, the way you actually learn that stuff beyond a memorize-for-exam level is by writing programs that implement it. Aren't programming assignments the thing you spend the most time on, the part that is actually difficult, and what most of your grade is based on? It definitely was for me, aside from the more pure math classes, and honestly I see it as by far the more important part, because what is the point of such an education other than gaining abilities to produce and understand software on a deeper level? This was in the US in the 2000's.

I met students who had very poor programming abilities, but were successful at understanding the how and why.

I met students who had poor programming abilities who ended up switching majors (or just cheating their way through) because that meant they couldn't pass the classes.

To learn programming as a skill, I would instead go to a community college.

Strange advice if you didn't go to one, but I can't speak on this either. Not learning the more foundational stuff seems like a possible drawback, and I'd count that as part of programming skill, even if many jobs won't make use of it directly.