More specifically, they learn how to formally represent the requirements of a Web service and then build a computer program to generate the computer programs that implement that service. The Huge Picture Organizations have complex requirements for their information systems. They also have insane schedules and demand that you build their system within weeks. Finally, they are fickle and have no compunction about changing the requirements mid-stream. The Big Picture Corporations all have knowledge management systems even though generally they may not have any knowledge.
Universities claim to have knowledge and yet none have knowledge management systems.
You are going to build a knowledge management system for your university. If you want to know why computer programmers get paid less than medical doctors, consider the situation of two trauma surgeons arriving at an accident scene. The patient is bleeding profusely. If surgeons were like programmers, they'd leave the patient to bleed out in order to have a really satisfying argument over the merits of two different kinds of tourniquet. If you're programming one Web page at a time, you can switch to the Language du Jour in search of higher productivity.