> Furthermore, by any measure that matters, the universities in the United States are the best in the world, bar none. So the competition to attend, places further pressure on those seeking degrees that do not immediately translate into a high paying job. We've made a mistake, as a society, by emphasizing "go to college" over "go to trade school".

Maybe a very tiny minority of the top schools, but in my experience as a CS graduate from another country, I have not really found the skills taught to graduates outside of the small circle of Ivy Leagues and top-tier unis to be anything particuarly extraordinary.

Grade inflation and the American bias of universities as research institutions where quality is measured by the number of papers and impact factor does not favor other educational systems where most of the research is done in specialized institutions where undergrads are not being taught.

When you get to make up the rankings, it's generally no surprise that the rankings favor you.