Ivory Tower

Name: Ivory Tower
Genre: History, Family, Documentary, News
Released: June 13, 2014
Duration: 90 min
Rating: 65

2014

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Generally favorable reviews based on 19 Critic Reviews

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Movie Details & Credits

| Release Date: June 13, 2014 | PG-13

Summary: As tuition rates spiral beyond reach and student loan debt passes $1 trillion (more than credit card debt), Ivory Tower asks: Is college worth the cost? From the halls of Harvard, to public colleges in financial crisis, to Silicon Valley, filmmaker Andrew Rossi assembles an urgent portrait of a great American institution at the breaking point.

Director: Andrew Rossi

Genre(s): History, Family, Documentary, News

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 90 min

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Critic Reviews

David Ehrlich

Jun 12, 2014

Rossi’s scathing (yet seemingly fair) documentary doesn’t just illustrate the institutional ironies of modern education. It also strives to understand why tuition is at an all-time high when knowledge is practically free. Read full review

Joshua Rothkopf

Jun 12, 2014

You feel for the potential Wesleyan parent who asks an administrator if his daughter is going to have to move home after graduating: His question is met with an uneasy pause. Crucial stuff. Read full review

Leba Hertz

Jun 19, 2014

Most interesting, to me, is what happened at New York City's Cooper Union, which has charged no tuition since its founding in 1859. Due in part to mismanagement of funds, the school has announced it will start charging tuition, prompting the students to form their own Occupy Movement. This alone deserves a 90-minute documentary. Read full review

Kenneth Turan

Jun 12, 2014

This film throws an enormous amount of information at us both in terms of original interviews and archival footage from more than 100 sources, but it's too sophisticated to suggest that any one-size-fits-all solution is lurking just over the horizon. Read full review

Ty Burr

Jun 19, 2014

Rossi gives us a survey course when what we need is a seminar; the movie is a useful “What’s Wrong With College 101” but the advanced study remains to be done. Read full review

McClatchy-Tribune News Service Roger Moore

Jun 10, 2014

Andrew Rossi’s documentary is a bit scatter shot in its approach. Read full review

Nathan Rabin

Jun 12, 2014

Ivory Tower asks a lot of provocative, important questions, but it’s decidedly short on answers, and even shorter on satisfying or convincing answers. Read full review

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Brent_Marchant

Jun 30, 2014

An engaging look at the troubling state of American higher education, how we got here and how we might get out of it. Despite the absence of ready-made answers and a tendency to keep from going for the jugular as much as it could (or should) have, the film nevertheless gives us pause toAn engaging look at the troubling state of American higher education, how we got here and how we might get out of it. Despite the absence of ready-made answers and a tendency to keep from going for the jugular as much as it could (or should) have, the film nevertheless gives us pause to assess where we're at, what we want out of our educational system and some clues on how to fix it.… Expand

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