30% of the ranking's rating is based on nobel laureate/fields medal in alumni or staff. 20% based just on amount of publications in Nature and Science.

I never know why people rate these rankings so highly when there are such unimpressive metrics like these.

Not to mention that this particular ranking does not seem to consider education at all anyway, which is what the GP was talking about.

fac = faculté, basically a French university.

I guess what the parents refer to is that Universities in France are not as elitist as in other countries; the most prestigious higher education public schools are often considered to be the so-called "grandes ecoles" (engineering schools) or some specific administration/economics schools.

The facs in France are well known for their laissez-faire attitude vis à vis students' personal work. The faculty personnel has a limited engagement with the integration of the students into the cursus. Combined with the moderate interest post-high school students show this leads to about 50% of the promotion not quite dropping out.(+)

And then there's the 'diplomas for all' aspect which incentivises the faculty to reach out and lower the barrier of passage into the next year, with obvious consequences....

(+) oh the humanities, mostly