Review: Fail State *** 1/2
In full disclosure, I have known the director, Alex Shebanow, and one of his co-producers, Terence Crawford, since they were in high school. I had the pleasure of teaching Terrence and evaluating several of Alex and his films in student festivals. As a result, I have watched in awe as Alex, and his entire production team, have poured their life, their fiances, and their time into Fail State, one of the most important, certainly, of this year and perhaps of the last five years.
The American dream is predicated on the notion that social class does not inhibit one’s ability to achieve your dreams. Of course, this is a fantasy, but the notion of being able to better one’s self is linked specifically to education; which even if other social barriers make dreams impossible, is an aid to a better paying job. After WWII, the GI bill opened college as a gateway to bettering one’s future for many more American citizens rather than just the wealthy of our society. Now, our country is failing our children and future generations.
Fail State not only documents that vast problems with the collegiate education system and lobbying industry, but, interweaves personal stories of those whose lives have been destroyed by the for-profit-college scam. I can personally attest that this film and its production started long before the current crisis we face with Donald Trump’s Education Department rolling back the few meager protections against the for-profit college industry. In fact, the now defunct Trump University isn’t brought up till near the end of the film. The point of this delay is not to brush over the people whose lives were ruined by Trump University, but rather, to demonstrate that the blame does not all lie on solely Republicans. Both sides have been bought by an education lobbying industry, looking out after their own profits.
Interviewing several whistle-blowers, the lid on the method of recruitment is one of the most damning realizations from the film. Recruiters, employed by for-profit colleges, use something called the pain-scale to ask potential “students” (a better term would be victims) personal questions about the tragedies in their life in order to turn the “recruiter” into a “friend” who wants to help you overcome the tragedies in your life by enrolling you in school. Forgot the cost. Forgot the interest rate on the loans. Forget how long you will be taking classes. It’s worth it because you deserve it. One of the victims ends up graduating with $50,000 dollars of debt and a worthless degree. Similar to the message of The Big Short, our country has a crisis on a similar scale to the subprime mortgage debacle.
Without government regulation and accreditation, the degrees are absolutely meaningless as anything can pass for a class. Classes for one of the “students” were merely links to a youtube video you could have watched for free. All the while, debt is incurring and schools are also scooping up tax payer dollars meant to help the poor obtain loans to attend college.
Perhaps the most galling example of this fraud happens to a veteran. Suffering from PTSD and trying to raise a family, he signs up through a GI website, since the government will pay for the majority of these students, for-profit colleges actively recruit them, only to discover that his degree is worthless. After serving this country, this country screws him over for profit…
If this anger does not lead to changes, we are all in trouble; especially considering the recent string of for-profit college victories at the Department of Education.
Fail State is now showing on STARZ. It is one of the must see documentaries of the year.
