Education: Does U.S. 'Catch-Up' At The College Level?

nomadic asks: " Reuters recently published an article about how American scientists, as well as foreign-born scientists who work in America, tend to dominate the Nobel prizes in science; it attributes this mostly to the fact that the U.S. government tends to invest more in science research than its foreign counterparts (the National Science Foundation funded 78 U.S. winners before they got their Nobels), and private and corporate entities contribute large amounts as well. The article talks about the scientific and economic culture of the U.S.; young scientists exist in an extremely competitive environment, where they are encouraged to challenge traditional authority. But it only touches on education a little. Now I've seen some truly venomous attacks on the U.S. educational system on /. by people in other countries, but this article implies while the U.S. is behind in science and math education in elementary and high school, 'there is something that happens on the college level'. Does the U.S. 'catch up' at the college level? I'll be honest, the exchange students I've met from more math and science-savvy educational systems have been well-educated, but not on some higher plane of thought that the media would lead one to believe. It seems commonly accepted (though I'm not sure I agree) that a high school graduate from most countries in Europe is on the average better-educated than one from the U.S. How about a college graduate? Graduate school? Is the U.S. dominance in science only about financial investment in the U.S., or can the U.S. university system take some credit?"