As a non american: America can get away with a lot more than this and still be an attractive place to try to move to. SF and many other places offer job opportunities the EU can't, and despite this and much more pain of trying to work there it's still worth it.
> SF and many other places offer job opportunities the EU can't,
Besides a job that just pays more money, what sort of unique opportunities exists in the US that doesn't exist anywhere in Europe? Genuinely curious, as I can't seem to think of any on my own.
Judging by the "intellectual purge" that just started, I'm not sure working as a professor at a college (world class or not) is such a great job opportunity. But I'm not close to academia at all, so maybe I'm wrong.
It's important to note that basically all university rankings are massively, massively skewed by the native English speaking countries.
Additionally, lots of UK and US universities have huge endowments which definitely helps.
That's not to say that there aren't great Universities there, but really international students go to the US (and some of the EU) so that they have a better chance of working there post study.
