Then maybe that is the real discussion we should be having. Do publicly funded colleges really need brand new student unions, exercise facilities and dorms every 10 years?

That is the real discussion we (US society) should be having. Unfortunately, things like giving up fancy new facilities or making admissions stricter are a very hard sell as nobody is willing to make those sacrifices, so the conversation revolves almost exclusively around who should be paying for an increasingly unsustainable system.

Are there any proof of say german university degrees offers less than american?