I think that your high school -> college -> real life progression is correct. The Westlake students have a more expensive set of tools to use as an
introduction to lighting, not necessarily a better set of tools.
Two important points from this: More money in the program doesn't always equate to better outcomes. Also that vocational training and academic training, even in a specific subject like event production tech, aren't mutually exclusive.
In high school I had to learn on cold-war-era analog lighting and sound equipment, where I learned the
McCandless Method (thanks for bringing that up Derekleffew) and other fundamentals, how to fix broken gear and respect high
voltage. Unfortunately I didn't have access to modern gear and only got access to older digital boards in college. Undergrad students weren't allowed to touch the
Vectorworks or other
CAD computers at all, so it was great to learn how to draft by
hand, I missed out on valuable job skills I need -and lack- today.
It was a great experience learning how to make do and be creative on a shoestring but today I see how those limitations made it harder to "think big" sometimes in my production and design work -because I don't always know what is possible when presented with bigger/better gear or venues. On the other
hand, I frequently encounter graduates of the School of Infinite Budget that can't cope well with whatever they find (or can make) functional in tech storage.
Secondly, educational institutions and production/event venues need to much more actively engage each other in towns big -but especially small- to give students more part-time apprenticeships where they
gain valuable experience working with professionals while still learning the trade. Not all venues have the best gear -and they learn to adapt- and others may give them exposure to better gear than their learning institutions.