Why the disparity between the quality of US universities and US high schools?

Question

...maybe this assumption is flawed, but it's only based on observation from an American living overseas.

I know there's been a great deal of criticism over the quality of American high schools in general (I haven't lived in the US since I was five, so I don't necessarily have a first hand account of this, but I've generally heard that the overall quality has been degenerating), but US universities still remain the best in world by far, at least for now. Again, I'm no education expert.

So what then, has made US universities so good, and what has made American high schools lose their edge? And maybe this is a gross over-generalization, but could the same approach to universities (as far as improving the quality) not work also with America's high schools?

Answer 1

Mostly, it's the same students in American Colleges who went to the high schools.

3/4th of High School Students will go to College.

The difference is that they are older, and they have to pay to attend college.  Americans are "dollar" oriented, that is, they think something is worth what you have to pay for it.  Often more expensive colleges are picked, when a cheaper community college would actually work just as good, if not better.

Colleges can more easily drop, or not accept for enrollment those with bad records, they can "cherry pick".  That means students know they have to perform, keep a decent GPA, or they may not be able to benefit from going to college, or be wasting their money.

If only students recognized how important H.S. is, and that they are paying for it too, with property taxes, and if high school students would be for those over age 18, then American high schools would be doing great, as our colleges are.

If only public high schools could keep the best, weed out the worse, they could do better too, like private schools.  But, then again, it's often good for the country to give everyone equal opportunity, every teenager eventually grows up, and gets "smarter" someday.