is its contrary to our own college experience.

All non-athletes attend university to become educated and to obtain skills necessary for future employment.

Most people graduate at the undergraduate level from the university they initially matriculated at. (Yes, there are transfers, 2 of my 7 transferred to a different university for various reasons), but I imagine most of us matriculated where we wanted and stayed until the next phase.

In college athletics the next phase often translates after one year. So it's mostly foreign to our own experiences.