Sorry, but I do not buy this. May be I have a different definition for a programmer, but programming is not just about writing down statements with some syntax. It's about understanding diverse problem domains in a structured way and having intuitions for solving problems with varying generality, adequate to the problem at hand.

In a sense, even if professors are parrots, students should not be. Every university course adds to the diversity of the domains. It's up to the students though to understand it and build practical patterns in their hands so they can bring all that to practice.

Otherwise using the same analogy programmers will also be parrots and can be replaces with sophisticated enough AI.

A disclaimer though. People are different, and what I described above may be suitable to my type of people. Maybe, other people learn from tremendous number of examples instead of studying systematic patterns (not to be confused with design patterns, though near) and zooming in to specific solutions from abstractions' (also mathematical abstractions') heights.

Think different MBTI types (though not ideal) may benefit / not benefit from University to varying degree, maybe?