College Towns

College Towns

Original Analysis

Bicentennial on Semiquincentennial: Did the Smartest Guys in 1976 Predict 2026?
A National Geographic from 1976 offers a glimpse into the hopes and fears of America's future.
 • Ryan M Allen
Fantastical Adaptive Reuse: The Story of Fu Ren University, Beijing, China.
From a prince's palace, then a Catholic school ordained by the Pope, to a modern national university.
 • Ryan M Allen
The US Needs a New Space Race
Artemis II is the first leg of the Space Race with China with the end goal of a university on the Moon.
 • Ryan M Allen
What China Has Planned For Higher Ed By 2030
Commentary on the higher education plans within the Chinese 15th Five-Year Plan.
 • Ryan M Allen
The Dashboard That Cried Wolf
Trump's new higher ed foreign gift dashboard is an overpromised, contextless mess.
 • Ryan M Allen
Waymo Hits a Kid Walking to School: Crash Analysis
I visit the site where a self-driving car made international headlines for not being a tragedy.
 • Ryan M Allen
The Education and Urbanism of Breaking Away
From limestone quarries to the National Championship: How this 1979 film captures the evolution of Indiana University, Bloomington, and the classic…
 • Ryan M Allen
Why Parents Tolerate Terrible School Car Pickup Lines
A tragedy strikes the my own community. We failed this boy and his family by placating drivers over everything else.
 • Ryan M Allen
Happy 1st Birthday to College Towns
I reflect on a year of weekly writing, running an academic Substack, and the future of the site.
 • Ryan M Allen
No, International Students Are Not Stealing Spots from American Undergraduates
Trump's Compact and other statements have exaggerated concerns over international students at American universities.
 • Ryan M Allen
Why Finland, Norway, & Sweden Are the Least Happiest Countries in this Ranking
Arbitrary indicators, dubious choices, random weights, overstated studies, biased presentation—this essay shows how rankings are not science.
 • Ryan M Allen
Impact of $100K H-1B Fee on International Students and US Higher Ed
There is a lot of confusion about the new $100,000 Trump imposed on H-1B. I discuss the impact through the lens of international students and higher ed.
 • Ryan M Allen
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