To be fair, I also asked a few questions to someone from Europe who studied abroad in California. My friend is Italian and he is studying at the American University in Rome, so that gave him an additional chance of seeing what the main differences between the American and Italian education systems are.  First of all, American Universities tend to have an attendance policy that in Italy is much rarer (that being said, some universities still have it). One of the reasons why there is an attendance policy is because there are usually daily assignments, presentations, etc. so the students need to be present in class. Conversely, at Italian universities, students are given more independence, in fact, it is up to them to decide whether they want to go to class or prepare for exams by themselves. Furthermore, differently from most Italian universities where the final grade is composed of one exam only, in American universities, the final grade is made up of exams, presentations, and, in some universities, one's in-class participation. Another major difference is that in Italy university students have to take both written and oral exams, whereas, in the American system, they only have to take written exams.