Most of the Major EU countries, especially the UK have better education systems than the US, the reason that the US Universities have such high reputations is the elitism that occurs with many Ivy League schools.
The standard and level of eductaion in the UK and other EU states is higher than in the US, most US freshman and sophmore courses can be used at Higher and Advanced higher courses in the UK (High Scool), which we regularly do.
I believe that this is quite possibly the basis for the education comment.
It is for this reason that there are a MASSIVE number of americans who are gifted coming to the top universities in the UK to study at a faster pace and higher level. Especially the likes of Edinburgh, Cambridge, and Oxford.