Which do you think is better for internationals? in terms of price, quality, student life, career opportunities, et cetera.
Certainly in terms of price, Europe is better. Unless you’re among the lucky few who get substantial financial aid in the US. Even Canada is better in terms of price, and a growing number of Americans is taking advantage of that.
Career opportunities depend on your major and nationality. Many, if not most, international students studying in the US have to go home (or simply leave the US) a year after graduation. EU doesn’t have those kinds of restrictions for members of other EU nations.
Student life in the US rather depends on the type of school – an LAC will be different from an urban community college – residential schools in the UK/Ireland are more similar to those in the US/Canada than to those in, say, in France or Germany.
It really depends on your goals.
There’s almost certainly going to be more flexibility in changing majors at NA unis and colleges than European unis.
Even residential unis in the UK will be more similar to continental European unis in terms of hand-holding and services provided than many American ones, though.
For careers, your own citizenship matters- if you are not EU or US, neither is likely to let you stay and work, and there are likely to be international companies from both in your home country.
Although you asked about North America, for the pieces below I am actually putting Canada more with the EU than the US.
For price, the EU trumps the US by a lot- except the UK, where international students can pay typical (not high end) US prices (though many degrees are 3 years not 4, so can be less cumulatively).
For quality: hugely variable, and it depends a lot on what level you are looking at. At the name-brand level, the ‘quality’ is comparable. I think that the US has more ‘better quality’ colleges and universities at just below the name-brand level than the EU, but that reflects the prevalence of private as well as state colleges. @PurpleTitan’s comments about changing subjects is also important: in most EU unis you apply to study one subject and that is most/all of what you study. In the US you typically must take some courses outside your subject area, and (with some exceptions, particularly engineering, cs and architecture) you have a year or even two before you have to declare your subject (major). (Unconventional) multi-disciplinary subjects are typically easier in the US as well.
For student life: again hugely variable, and depending a lot on what you consider a good student life. Alcohol is legal in the EU at 18 and in the US at 21. For many students that affects how they socialize. The US is typically more campus-centric than the EU, with the majority of students living in campus housing for some of the time, and with extensive campus facilities (sports centers, theaters, etc). Location is also more variable, as I think US colleges and universities are spread across a bigger range of rural/suburban/urban locations than EU universities, which tend to be more concentrated in more urban areas. Also, most of the (say) top 100 colleges/universities in the US have about 10% international students. The UK and Irish unis are all over the map- some have way more than 10%. Most of the other EU unis either have quite a lot of (non-EU) international students- or very, very, very few. Unis with very few international students can have their own challenges, not least because the process of getting started can be much harder when the admin don’t have much experience of dealing with it, and don’t realize what you don’t know.
obviously, all of the above are generalities!
So to answer your question, I don’t think that one is ‘better’ for internationals: it’s which one is better for you.
European students are often shocked at the social differences at American universities, especially when it comes to things like drinking and the role of RAs. Most universities have strict alcohol policies as a result of US law, which says you can go to war, vote, and own a gun but not drink a beer. RAs in American universities have in many cases the authority to enter student rooms to conduct inspections. British universities all have university funded and subsidised pubs (Junior Common Rooms)
American universities provide much more extensive “orientation” programs and devote many resources to looking after their students. If you were to attend Cambridge, by contrast, you’d attend Fresher’s Week to join clubs but then would meet your tutor who would tell you where to find the lecture list and when to see your subject supervisor. After that, you are expected to look after yourself. Help is there, but you must ask.
Another major difference is that the US uses continuous assesment, whereas many if not most British universities base your assessment on how you do on annual examinations. By contrast, American students often have "mid term and final exams each semester/quarter, and are expected to submit a number of papers for English, history and related courses. These are graded and used to determine your “grade” in the class.
As @collegemom3717 says, these are huge generalities. Both systems have their pro’s and con’s. They are just very different so you have to decide which type of uni you want to attend.
I would agree on everything you^ said except for two things
- the fact beer is illegal in the US for under 21s doesn’t mean American college students don’t drink. In fact many internationals find their inability to drink responsibly baffling to insane. I knew a group of European students who were psyched to go to a fraternity party due to movie exposure. They came back from trying three of them very disappointed - said it was both boring (not much ‘real dancing’, whatever that means, bad music…) and disgusting (no comment).
- Europe in general and countries such as France, Germany, Sweden, and to a certain extent the UK, actively seek to retain already -'accultured ', highlY qualified foreigners. Canada actively tries to recruit them and makes it very easy for them to get permanent residency (2years post degree) then citizenship (à couple more years after that).