Nope you’re right, the real world is 10 concepts in X amount of hours. Academia it’s 10 concepts by this deadline. The shift in the way the work is framed allows students the opportunity to spend the extra time to get it right. (whether that means more time concepting, sketching, etc) So you have the opportunity to really push your designs and your skill set during this time.
I think that a competitive school environment where students are pushing themselves project after project to outperform themselves and classmates, leads to greater growth and produces stronger designers. Putting in the late night hours during school will pay dividends when your graduate and try to find a job. Going back to OPs original message, my thought is that the competition between students, pushes the entire class upwards.
There other side of the argument seems to be that, this produces diva designers and it enforces unhealthy habits. It also isn’t how real world projects work and school should potentially try and follow a structure closer to that. Example not over delivering, etc. In the real world your not competing with your fellow designers your collaborating. (paraphrasing a few others points)