What formal CS education doesn't cover how computers work at a low level? It would seem like the opposite. Most self-taught programmers are probably missing foundational knowledge that doesn't directly apply to their day to day.
Every CS program of middling quality or above covers that material, but some may shove that coursework into mostly elective courses. Also, students can pass courses without really learning anything so if it's just one or two courses that really dive that deep over their academic career, they can learn enough to pass and then brain dump it.
I have met more CS graduates who have little clue what's going on beyond what they copy pasted from stackoverflow compared to those who do. Both in the Indian subcontinent and right here in the US. Self-taught folks actually have the capacity to research and teach themselves what's going on under the hood.
Well it was the fifth course in my departments sequence, so a lot of students wouldn't take it until junior year. By that time they were decently proficient at writing code.
