It is extremely common for classes to require students to learn to use proprietary software. It’s a tool of the trade.

I understand that; my position is more ideological than practical. In an ideal scenario, AutoDesk, Adobe, Microsoft, etc wouldn't be so deeply entrenched in their respective fields such that they are the de-facto tools of the trade for every business which must be learned in order to be hired. I know a given student has to learn certain proprietary tools in the current academic and professional environment. My comment was saying I would prefer this not to be the case. I am fully aware that proprietary software domination in the academic and professional spaces is not going away any time soon.

In my ideal scenario, an interviewer at a company would ask, "Can you perform the following edits to a given graphic?" instead of "Can you use Photoshop?" since the former allows for candidates who can use alternatives like GIMP. I understand company pipelines aren't set up for this, either, because company pipelines are also deeply entrenched in proprietary software.

The OP's photo is specifically about professors allowing other software to be used. Which would be a good starting point for making these kinds of changes.

What does not knowing excel even mean? If you're in STEM and would be tought the fundamentals of statistics independently of any software tool, you would gain the knowledge to apply these skills to any tool. And sorry to say, but after that Excel is just learning syntax.

True, but what I see in chemical engineering is college graduates not being very able to use Excel, because they all used Aspen and other very expensive software in college.