Free and open to the public at The Englert Theatre

A curated conversation will take place following the film in the Englert’s second-floor Douglas & Linda Paul Gallery.

This event is sponsored by the Obermann Center for Advanced Studies, the Public Policy Center, the University of Iowa Graduate Senate, the University of Iowa Student Government, the Faculty Senate, POROI, and UI AAUP, with support from FilmScene.

STARVING THE BEAST

"Should higher education be a profitable commodity or a public good? That’s the central question in the documentary Starving the Beast." - Washington Post

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 an 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.

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.