Starving the Beast

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Director: Steve Mims
Runtime: 95 min​
Rating: NR
DVDCat#: PRDVD3677
UPC: 602573328781 
Pre Book: 8/8/17
Street: 9/4/17
SRP: $59.95

GENRES: documentary, American Studies, Education

SYNOPSIS:
As college tuition skyrockets and student debt explodes, a powerful new documentary reveals a nationwide fight for control of the heart, soul and finances of America’s public universities.  

Starving the Beast tells the story of a potent one-two punch roiling public higher education right now: 35 years of systematic defunding and a well financed market oriented reform effort.  It’s the story of a little known and misunderstood ideological fight, the outcome of which will change the future of public higher education.

The film reveals a historic philosophical shift that reframes public higher education as a ‘value proposition’ to be borne by the student as a consumer, rather than an investment in citizens as a ‘public good’. Financial winners and losers emerge in a struggle poised to profoundly change public higher education. 
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The film vividly illustrates these issues in unfolding dramas at six public research universities:  University of Wisconsin, University of Virginia, University of North Carolina, Louisiana State University, University of Texas, and Texas A&M.