If you are looking to catch a flick this weekend, you could do a lot worse than “Ivory Tower.”
The provocative documentary, which hit select theaters on Friday, demonstrates in sad detail how American college students and their families are struggling to cope with tuition prices that have skyrocketed 1,120 percent in “absolute dollars” since 1978.
The director, Andrew Rossi, talked to The College Fix recently about the documentary.
Rossi observed that salaries for bureaucrats ranging from incredibly cushy to downright obscene have been a huge factor in tuition increases.
“The increase in administrators and professional staff has far outpaced the growth of full-time faculty,” Rossi told the Fix.
Many college presidents now bring home seven-figure salaries, he noted.
Another problem is that colleges and universities routinely give out an abundance of financial aid but then raise their costs — to cover the increased financial aid.
Still another factor is a never-ending array of luxuries that schools build and install to attract students. Climbing walls are a staple at schools of all calibers across the country, for example. Loyola University Chicago has its own fancy movie theater. Auburn University has a lavish swimming pool.
The Fix also notes that schools such as Arizona State University are partnering with publicly traded companies to build what every college student totally needs: “luxurious” student housing.
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