I wish I knew the difference when I started at university. In retrospect, It wouldn't have changed anything, because I love my time as an undergrad at my school. But, the perception of what a software engineer career looks like would have changed. At best, I would have advocated to my school of engineering to offer a software engineering degree.

Though, I imagine it is difficult for universities. They're trying to be more theoretical and less practical than trade schools, despite the majority of undergrads do not continue to pursue more degrees. I imagine if universities shifted its focus to more applied sciences, it might be even harder to keep the number of applications for masters and phd programs up.