Sorry to drag this one up, but I'll add some final thoughts.
"Someone" mentioned color coding by length vs color coding by function of the wire. At the University the circuits were relatively simple, and the goal was to build them quickly, take the data, and then move on to the other 10 assignments I had to do. So, the color code by length was better. More complicated circuits that one might be designing would benefit from color coded by function. Hence, cutting one's own wires as one needs them is better, as it's impractical to store every length in every color.
The kits sold now, in the random colors, would be perfectly OK, as I know I'll eventually get used to the new colors, but the resistor colors are burned in my brain a lot better. I do worry about the lengths. The kits sold have wires cut in mm lengths, and some are up to 6 percent off from the breadboards .1 inch spacing. Worse, they are short, so one can't even put an arch in the wires to make them work.
What did I do? I went to the famous auction site and bought some old kits from people who took electronics a long time ago and are finally cleaning up. I did end up cutting some, because one set I bought had the longer wires mangled badly. (seems someone just said "screw it" and used long wires for everything, and made them fit.) I notice there are 1 inch wires, and 2 inch but nothing in between, so I made some.
Thanks for indulging me, and I thank everyone for responding.