I hear this all the time but they never mention the exams that weed out large % of the population unless you jump through additional hoops. Germany has exams that dictate whether you go to university or trade school, with very little recourse to fix. Italy has continuation exams after the first year that 50 to 70 % can fail. Sure its free/low cost after the fact. Its a totally different government meddled system in Europe. Almost anyone in the US can find a for profit University (I know many with a 90% acceptance rate) that will accept them somewhere in the US with real accredited degrees.