We had to develop a form in MS access for some mock business use case. It was something that you _might_ have done 15 years ago? FFS though, just teach sqlite. It's infinitely more convenient to run sqlite than MS access (windows-only). Not to mention that MS access only supports a subset of SQL (IIRC, some joins don't work), so much for learning the fundamentals. Absolutely infuriating.

I think I had to use Access in the databases class too back in 2003; they taught SQL but also had a practical project that involved building something in Access.

I could see it as a legitimate use case-- in a real business environment, even in a software-centric organization, you might have a need for light-duty database stuff where the UI is 90% of the value, and Access could give you that while trying to tape together an interface atop SQLite or MySQL is a lot of extra effort.

I had a master's level class that did things w/ MS Access.

The prof even had an appendix for "if you want to do this on a CLI or with MariaDB..." and had links to other DBMS alternatives. I used DBeaver with Maria and got an A in the class.

But to the parent poster's point -- as someone who has done a lot of hiring on the entry-to-mid level there is a NOTABLE difference in quality from the brick-and-mortar schools vs. online, even if they didn't have a STEM degree (e.g. an English major who turned Network Engineer). I suspect it's more about selection bias and some limited competing with peers.