It's a foreign concept to them, literally. The athletes in Europe who play rugby or soccer or tennis don't go to college, with very rare exceptions. They perfect their craft separately of course. So, athletes in general are viewed as kind of uneducated rubes.
Another difference is if you major in say math, nearly all your take is math courses, and related topics, no English or history or whatever else.
Another is that about half as many HS grads go to college in the first place.