David, have you ever heard of Drexel University in Philadelphia?  They have a unique approach to education...  BA or BS degrees are given in 5 years.  Every other semester after your freshman year you work for six months in a job related to your field.  No big vacations except a two week X-mas vacation if you are not on co-op then.  I think that will be the future of liberal arts education.  My professor liked the French education system - and he did teach us about it, especially about the needing to go to private schools before you go into ENA.  After reading that I agree with you - forgive the poor example.  Although graduating from a school and saying you went to 'X' is pretty neat :).  Thanks for posting!  PM me if you want to guest blog sometime!