in reply to Initiative or otherwise?
As with most questions, "it depends" The others have covered it pretty well but this is my .02.
Programer A and B are just about the same in this scenario. As long as B did not violate licensing or plagerise; did he do anything wrong?
Programmer A could also take much longer on assignments or may even burn out if he needs to do that all the time. As long as the job does what it is supposed to do and is maintainable by others; it is a good program.
As to the students. Well each learns in their own way. A question for student A is why didn't he ask questions as the due date was closing in? Now if B gets better each time he does an assignment....
A question: Does school make you a programmer or does school teach you some struture and mainly syntax?