They've enrolled in computer classes because they want to get a job and computing seems like a growth industry. This makes it difficult for project managers and other employers. Fortunately, there are some clues as to who makes a good programmer. It is important to keep in mind that as our culture changes, the visible attributes of a good programmer also change. When I got started in programming, real programmers wrote in assembler and ate Szechuan food.
Today there are new standards.
First of all, real programmers don't work for money. This has two effects. You hire them at either the high or low end of the pay scale. At the high end you'll find the type whose self-confidence was honed when, as teenagers, they built synthesizers or wrote Apple programs to simulate the space shuttle. They ask for top dollar and settle for nothing less.