I've tutored too many kids/young adults who had this exact story. Too often I got them after the midterm, when their whole 4 year plan was suddenly in jeopardy. I'm happy to say that there are a few more engineers out there that I helped get un-stuck.

I always had the benefit of being the tutor, though. I have to imagine that teaching a calculus one course is near impossible with 30 students on 30 different levels of experience and aptitude.

That said, I think that first year of calculus is often taught valuing mechanics over concepts.

I like to imagine what 12 years of math would look like if people weren't chained to a timeline. Here's khanacademy, go!