> not the university culture I remember.
that's because universities are now businesses first, research institutions second, and academic institutions third
This point gets to the heart of the matter. The more I look into it, everything else seems downstream from this.
And yet the US has some of the best universities in the world academically.
it absolutely does not. you pay for paper and the network. the education, except at few rare exemptions, is subpar. talk to any asian and european and ask what they think of attending uni in the US :)