[tomaha]

It's an advantage to have wealthy and/or educated parents no matter what kind of system you have. But in Germany your chances are much better than in the US. No one in my family went to university before me and I had disadvantages because of that. But you still have excellent opportunities and just lack the advise of experienced parents/friends and perhaps are more risk-averse (but with Bafög you'll get some help there (monetary support if your parents don't earn enough)).

[mcguire]

Interestingly, Germany has a lower-than-average drop-out rate (https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/eag_highlights-2008-...).

On the other hand, US and European higher education are not directly comparable. (https://www.usnews.com/education/best-global-universities/ar..., https://www.usnews.com/education/best-global-universities/ar...)

[TulliusCicero]

Yeah, I'm not saying it's a worse system. I'm just pointing out that in practice, there are compromises.