Well, i'm not going to lie to you: it does seem like a pretty silly reason. I mean, I think non-contemporary college AUs can be really cool for sure, but... the whole thing is an AU. Putting characters in college is no less of an AU than putting them in a different decade.

But you do you. Personally, my problem with most college AUS is that they're unbearably generic and not well-written or distinctive enough.