Even worse though, is that these sorts of courses are almost always derided by the majority of the student base as a waste of time, and "common sense stuff".
I actually really enjoyed the one I did, although it had just gone through a major rewrite to improve it a lot. And yet, I don't think I ever heard any of my peers mention the course with anything but contempt.
That's because a course on ethics doesn't provide students with greater ethical reasoning or values. Such courses simply provide information and test whether students were listening to the lectures or not.
I actually really enjoyed the one I did, although it had just gone through a major rewrite to improve it a lot. And yet, I don't think I ever heard any of my peers mention the course with anything but contempt.