[eigenvector]

Have you looked at the methodology for Times Higher Education rankings? It has nothing to do with quality of education. It's based on reputation. I went to a top 20 school that was utterly mediocre and was ranked highly only because of its research prowess.

America having a lot of prestigious research institutions has nothing to do with the quality of primary and secondary education in the country. Half of the PhDs and faculty members in those top American schools got their primary and secondary education in foreign countries.

[eli_gottlieb]

And tertiary, too. Plenty of grad-students in American institutions have their undergrad degree from some cheaper place abroad.

Hell, some of us Americans have left America to go do degrees and careers elsewhere, due to its extreme disinvestment in science. One friend of mine to Montreal and quite possibly Germany for his PhD, me to Israel...