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Poster for Ivory Tower

Ivory Tower

2014 · 1h 37m · PG-13 Documentary
Directed by Andrew Rossi

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Overview

As tuition spirals upward and student debt passes a trillion dollars, students and parents ask, "Is college worth it?" From the halls of Harvard to public and private colleges in financial crisis to education startups in Silicon Valley, an urgent portrait emerges of a great American institution at the breaking point.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
82%
Tomatometer
Fresh

What makes "Ivory Tower" interesting is how it looks at not just the debt but the causes behind it, and other problems besetting higher education.

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic
Fresh

A groaning table of food for thought - almost too much for one movie, though presented with remarkable deftness.

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times
Rotten

"Ivory Tower" makes a persuasive case that the gravest epidemic that's spreading from college campuses isn't student-loan debt but attention-deficit disorder.

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Fresh

One of the most interesting discoveries is that it's not just students who are in debt. In the spirit of competitiveness, colleges have had to up the ante.

Stephanie Merry, Washington Post
Fresh

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.

Ty Burr, Boston Globe

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