Ruston's homepage offers good amount of information about the place that hosts the Louisiana Tech University. We anyway present a little summary of the town customized to suit international students coming to Ruston/Tech for the first time.

Ruston lies in north-central Louisiana, right on Interstate 20 (I-20) that connects the nearby bigger cities of Monroe (25 minutes/30 miles) and Shreveport (1 hr/66 miles). Ruston was founded as a railroad town way back in 1884 when the railroad from Vicksburg, MS to Shreveport, LA was completed. LaTech was founded in 1894, ten years after the town was born. Since that time, the town gradually grew in size and ameneties, and now is the home of about 20,000 people, not counting the nearly 12,000 student population of Tech. The climate is marked by very long, very humid summers and mild winters. Yet, temperatures do drop below 32 F (0 C) and the moisture makes the air feel considerably colder than it actually is. Despite the university with heavy pedestrian traffic, there is NO public transportation whatsoever! Even bike riding or walking might sometimes be a problem, since a lot of roads are very wide and do not always have a sidewalk. Housing close to campus is therefore desireable.

Click here for a map (PDF) of Ruston.