March 24, 2026

A New Model for American Universities with Ben Crocker

How can we attempt to fix the broken systems within American higher education? What does it take to start a new university model? What is the impact of simplifying admissions? Ben Crocker takes on all these questions and more!

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About this episode

In this episode, University Dean and Director of Admissions at the University of Austin Ben Crocker dives into the formation and ethos of the University of Austin, and what makes this institution different from traditional higher education models. He starts by talking about the university’s mission, which is to re-center teaching in the American education system and fix the broken financial model of universities by not charging tuition.

Ben continues by diving into the radically simple admissions process at UATX, which only takes into account standardized test scores. He explains that this allows for a simpler process that cuts out the lack of transparency or “black box” of college admissions.

Mentioned in this episode

Host

Will Geiger

Will Geiger is the co-founder of Scholarships360 and has a decade of experience in college admissions and financial aid. He is a former Senior Assistant Director of Admissions at Kenyon College where he personally reviewed 10,000 admissions applications and essays. Will also managed the Kenyon College merit scholarship program and served on the financial aid appeals committee. He has also worked as an Associate Director of College Counseling at a high school in New Haven, Connecticut.Will earned his master’s in education from the University of Pennsylvania and received his undergraduate degree in history from Wake Forest University.

Guest

Ben Crocker

Ben Crocker is University Dean at the University of Austin (UATX), and previously worked as a fellow at Common Sense Society in Washington, D.C., Budapest and London. Concurrently, he was an inaugural Ramsay Center for Western Civilisation Postgraduate Scholar at St John’s College, Annapolis. Before moving to the United States Ben worked in Sydney as a conductor and music teacher, most recently at The King’s School, for ABC Classic FM, and at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. His commentary has appeared in The New York Post, The Federalist, The Spectator, and on Fox News.