@cmos_battery
One thing to bear in mind is there's nothing magic about VPNs. They're just one way to establish an IP connection between sites. Once they're set up, you use then as you would any other connection. Years ago, things like frame relay and fractional T1s were used. These days, out in the real world, you might come across MPLS or QinQ VLANs, As for setting up VPNs, you have to know which one and the specifics depend on the brand. For example pfsense supports OpenVPN, IPSec and Wireguard VPNs. But the details of configuring IPSec, for example, on Cisco would differ from pfsense. I don't know that a class such as your is the place to learn more than general principles, though you may get into setting up one. But when you get out into the real world, you could easily find yourself working with another. The principles will remain the same, the but details may differ and you'd be expected to work those out on your own. One thing I complained about years ago was the schools teaching Windows and Microsoft Office, rather than operating systems and office apps, so that a person would have portable skills. It's sort of like a auto mechanic class teaching only one make of vehicle, as though the others didn't exist.
