But to be clear, are you saying you wish all the “excellent” private colleges and universities in the US were appropriated by the state, so the state could then eliminate the donor-driven decisions at these institutions, and in turn allow the existing flagship public universities to stop competing with those private colleges and universities?
Because that is the model that leads to the results you like in other countries. They simply do not have “excellent” private colleges and universities.
Edit: Oh, and yes, this is part of the problem with healthcare reform too. Outcomes in the US are not great on average, but at least arguably, at its best the US system provides better healthcare to the people who can afford access to the best of the US system than they would likely get in most other countries. And people benefiting from that are opposed to taking it away.