Sometimes it's trivial, replacing a for-each loop with something that's log(n) or O(1). Sometimes a little more complicated, like refactoring some code and realizing the original implementer was trying to do BFS but.. wrote something else. And the rarer cases are having to really dive in and trace some odd contention issues. All of these touch on what I learned in college at some level. Sometimes knowing something exists is helpful for looking up later and can save lots of time.
I do wonder if it's less about "requiring" the education and more about someone seeking out the kind of work that uses the education. I know many people in my company are the opposite of me, and definitely do not care to go much deeper than implementing things until they work.