Design Education: What do designers really need to know?

As I consider returning to school for an MFA in graphic design, I have been assessing what I have learned in 13 years as a professional designer as well as what I have yet to learn... and I came across this blog post by David Airey about what design schools can do better.

The client management theme resonated with me the most. Below are some comments I wholeheartedly agree with.

“Students should be given projects where the teacher plays the role of a difficult client — someone without imagination and the ability to articulate what they want. It can be a huge challenge to isolate the core message of a design project, and knowing how to handle those clients, and keep them happy, can be even harder.”
— NEIL KOWALEWSKI

“...there have only been a few courses where the outline simulated a real-world design we might have to do for a client, or the handling of any other sort of client alteration, suggestion, or complaint. Of the few that had done that, I learned the most.”
— CRYSTAL

“If you don’t know how to interact with clients, or even close a sale, your talents are going to be restricted. No clients = no designing.”
— ALAN ANDERSON

What do you think design students need to know? Is this something that can be taught in school?

collage by illustrator Eleanor Wood