I agree about masters degree and specialization but kids are there during undergraduate time. Therefore if an athlete has a strong interest in a field after pro or amateur career then it would seem that a persons resume from Stanford and Duke most likely would look better when applying for masters or PhD program.It also comes down to program, too. Less so for many athletes (especially those whose intentions are to go pro), but I still would like to throw that out there. If an athlete is looking at their life after sports, program quality matters.
I got my master’s in a pretty specialized field at UConn, and their program is, arguably, the top in the county.