Many foreign students are attracted not only to the academic programs at a particular U.S. college
许多留学生不仅仅被美国大学的学术课程所吸引，
but also to the larger community, which affords the chance to soak up the surrounding culture.
同时还因为有机会去一个更大的社区汲取更多的文化。
Few foreign universities put much emphasis on the cozy communal life that characterizes American campuses,
这些构成美国校园别具一格的舒适的公共生活，很少有外国大学将重点放在这上面。
from clubs and sports teams to student publications and drama societies.
从俱乐部和体育团队到学生刊物以及戏剧协会
"The campus and the American university have become identical in people's minds,"
“在人们眼里，大学和美国的大学是有区别的。”
says Brown University President Vartan Gregorian.
布朗大学的理事长Vartan Gregorian表示，
"In America, it is assumed that a student's daily life is as important as his learning experience."
“在美国，学生的日常生活被认为和他的学术生活一样重要。”
Foreign students also come in search of choices.
外国学生也有许多选择。
America's menu of options - research universities, state institutions,
美国拥有许多选择：研究型大学、国家机构、
private liberal-arts schools, community colleges, religious institutions, military academies - is unrivaled.
私立艺术学校、社区大学、宗教机构和军事学院。这是无以伦比的。
"In Europe,"says history professor Jonathan Steinberg, who has taught at both Harvard and Cambridge,
在哈佛和剑桥大学任职的历史教授乔纳森·斯坦伯格表示，
"there is one system, and that is it."
“在欧洲，有且仅有一种制度。”
While students overseas usually must demonstrate expertise in a specific field,
当海外的学生需要在特定领域获得专业技能，
whether law or philosophy or chemistry.
无论是法律、哲学或是化学。
Most American universities insist that students sample natural and social sciences,
大部分的美国大学坚持学生在选定专业之前，
languages and literature before choosing a field of concentration.
学习基础的自然和社会科学。
Such opposing philosophies grow out of different traditions and power structures.
这种巨大的差异是由于不同的传统和不同的权力架构造成的。
In Europe and Japan, universities are answerable only to a Ministry of Education,
在欧洲和日本，大学由教育部管辖，
which sets academic standards and distributes money.
教育部制定学术标准和发放经费。
While centralization ensures that all students are equipped with roughly the same resources and perform at roughly the same level,
这样集中化管理使得所有的学生有大致上相同的资源、表现和学术水平，
it also discourages experimentation.
但同时也导致创新不足。
"When they make mistakes, they make big ones," says Robert Rosenzweig,
“一旦他们出错，那么会是巨大的错误。”
president of the Association of American Universities.
美国大学联合协会的理事长罗伯特·罗森茨维格表示，
"They set a system in wrong directions, and it's like steering a supertanker."
“他们在错误的道路上制定框架，他们就像是驾驶者一辆巨型油轮。”