Between 1980 and 2010, the cost of higher education grew by 1,120 percent—double the rate of inflation. Student loan debt in America recently topped $1 trillion, outstripping our national credit card debt. In this climate of economic uncertainty, director Andrew Rossi questions whether college is worth its price tag and turns a skeptical, journalistic lens on our nation’s universities. Through interviews with professor Andrew Delbanco, writer Anya Kamenetz, Coursera cofounder Daphne Koller, and numerous students, Ivory Tower presents a sweeping, often contradictory picture of the future of higher education. As we journey from the hallowed halls of Harvard to the party scene at Arizona State to “uncollege” hacker schools for aspiring entrepreneurs, Rossi investigates university spending, quality of education, and new educational models. Woven throughout is the unfolding story of New York’s Cooper Union, where students stage a large-scale sit-in to protest a decision by the school’s president to charge tuition for the first time in 150 years.  EM