Executive produced by news legend Dan Rather, Fail State investigates the dark side of American higher education, chronicling decades of policy decisions in Washington DC that have given rise to a powerful and highly-predatory for-profit college industry. With echoes of the subprime mortgage crisis, the film lays bare how for-profit colleges exploited millions of low-income and minority students, leaving them with worthless degrees and drowning in student loan debt. Director Alexander Shebanow traces the rise, fall, and resurgence of the for-profit college industry, uncovering their Wall Street backing and incestuous relationship with the regulators and lawmakers charged with overseeing them. 　　译文(2): 由新闻界传奇人物丹 · 拉瑟制作的《失败之州》调查了美国高等教育的阴暗面，记录了华盛顿特区几十年来的政策决定，这些决定催生了一个强大的、高度掠夺性的营利性大学产业。与次贷危机相呼应的是，这部影片揭示了盈利性大学如何剥削数百万低收入和少数族裔学生，让他们获得毫无价值的学位，陷入学生贷款债务的泥潭。导演 Alexander Shebanow 追踪了盈利性大学产业的兴起、衰落和复苏，揭示了它们在华尔街的支持以及与负责监督它们的监管者和立法者之间的乱伦关系。