# 708. WHAT MAKES A GREAT COLLEGE TOWN?

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/tests-and-the-rest-college-admissions-podcast-563572/708-what-makes-a-great-college-town
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/tests-and-the-rest-college-admissions-podcast-563572/708-what-makes-a-great-college-town.md
Podcast: [Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/tests-and-the-rest-college-admissions-podcast-563572)
Published: 2026-02-24T11:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://testsandtherest.libsyn.com/708-what-makes-a-great-college-town
Audio file: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/testsandtherest/TATRcollegetowns.mp3?dest-id=1349983
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/tests-and-the-rest-college-admissions-podcast-563572/episodes/708-what-makes-a-great-college-town
Duration seconds: 1658

## Resource

Tremendous amounts of interest and anxiety are expended on answering the question of where a student might go to college. Usually, though, the focal point is the school and not the community around the school, when sometimes the setting makes all the difference. Amy and Mike invited educator Ryan Allen to explore the question of what makes a great college town. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What is a college town? Why are some towns with colleges not proper college towns? What are some of the best college towns in the United States? What features or factors make or break a college town? Should more schools aim to create a full college-town experience? MEET OUR GUEST Ryan M. Allen is an Associate Professor of International and Comparative Education and Leadership at Soka University of America . His academic research centers on the internationalization of higher education, global mobility, and the intersections between education and urbanism, with a particular emphasis on the US and East Asia. He is also the founder and editor-in-chief of College Towns , a Substack where urbanism meets higher education. He holds a PhD from Teachers College, Columbia University, an MA from Yonsei University (Seoul, South Korea), and a BA from the University of Central Oklahoma. Ryan can be reached at collegetowns.org . LINKS What Even is a College Town? Morrill Act (1862) | National Archives The Education and Urbanism of Breaking Away RELATED EPISODES ATTENDING A LARGE PUBLIC UNIVERSITY ATTENDING A LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGE MAKING THE MOST OF COLLEGE VISITS ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page . ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBri…

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