Andrea Beach Common Sense Media Jul 27, 2023 4/5

Director John Singleton turns his focus to prestigious universities, asking pointed questions about how these institutions perpetuate, or at least turn a blind eye to, important social issues.

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Justin Brown Medium Popcorn Sep 19, 2019 2/5

I felt like it was lengthy, and they could have chopped down some of this stuff while trying to appeal to everyone...Malik and Remy could have been the movie right there.

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Brandon Collins Medium Popcorn Sep 19, 2019 1/5

What is high...what is learning...yes it's a pretty decent cast, but it's all over the place, and I really wanted it to end.

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Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews May 10, 2019 C+

It was too schematic, too didactic and too cliched to work.

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David Parkinson Radio Times Apr 26, 2019 3/5

Cole Hauser is chillingly effective as the white supremacist skinhead who reveals Rapaport's potential for violence, while Jennifer Connelly gives the most adult performance as a worldly-wise lesbian.

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Emma Cochrane Empire Magazine Apr 26, 2019 2/5

Good intentions, but dull and predictable.

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David Ansen Newsweek Feb 16, 2018

Higher Learning sells its soul (and its brain) for overwrought melodrama.

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TV Guide Staff TV Guide Jul 25, 2010 3/5

Singleton gets points for exposing the hypocrisy of "politically correct" institutions, but stilted dialogue and cardboard characterizations undermine the message.

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Owen Gleiberman Entertainment Weekly Jul 6, 2010 C

Despite some likable performances (Epps is especially winning), the drama in Higher Learning is constricted, hemmed in by Singleton's compulsion to view his characters as walking paradigms of racial and sexual politics.

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Todd McCarthy Variety Oct 18, 2008

Higher Learning has a great many things on its mind, which immediately places it in a rather exclusive category of American films these days.

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Geoff Andrew Time Out Feb 9, 2006

A stylish, intelligent film-maker, Singleton interweaves the threads of his demographic tapestry with assurance, passion and a welcome awareness of the complexities of the college community's contradictory impulses towards integration and separatism.

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Brad Laidman Film Threat Dec 6, 2005 4/5

There's some nice ideas and realistically felt characters here.

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Luke Y. Thompson New Times Nov 3, 2005 3/5

For anyone who's been to USC, it's a pretty hilarious parody of life there. If you take it as presented, however, it's over-dramatic and unbelievable.

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Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Jun 26, 2005 2/5

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Caffeinated Clint Moviehole Mar 23, 2005 3/5

Another tour-de-force for Singleton

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Derek Smith Apollo Guide Jul 18, 2004 2/5

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Blake Davis KFOR Channel 4 News (Oklahoma City) Jan 27, 2004 2/5

John Singleton at his most pretentious and preachy.

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Spence D. IGN Jan 24, 2004 3/5

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David Nusair Reel Film Reviews Aug 1, 2003 3.5/4

...John Singleton's third (and best) film.

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James Sanford Kalamazoo Gazette Jun 4, 2003 3/5

Flawed but often arresting drama

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