I am an Italian living in the States.
Thanks for the article. Extremely interesting.

One little note: the 3+2 degree we have in Europe is NOT an equivalent of an American undergrad. It is actually a Master degree. All the courses during the “+2″ are at the graduate level.
However, this is one of the big differences in Eu schooling habits: we normally stay at school longer and do not work between BA and Master.
I could definitely go on with a lot of considerations about the pros and cons. The only thing I am trying to say here is that in Eu degrees count (the school you get the degree from much less…) when you approach a potential employers. So try to get a lot of those papers before you go there!