They may have similar courses (with some notable exceptions), its more a about who's teaching it and what kind of resources they have to teach with. Top universities bring in the top experts and teachers in the world, and have amazing resources to allow students to use top level equipment, tools, libraries, etc to facilitate top level learning. These schools are also usually conducting amazing research that even undergraduate students can often participate in, accelerating their careers. When a university has all these things, they gain a good reputation, allowing for students to find easier and better jobs upon graduation. That alone makes a university "better" in the eyes of most.