Sorry, a "your account has been locked, please reset your password" email to an .edu address from a gmail.com address is 100% always fraudulent, a 5th grader could tell you that, yet google lets it go through.
Could be a study to see how much response such an obviously fraudulent e-mail gets, sent from that same university conducting the study.
I admit that it's a fringe case, but it could be a thing.