- Land-grant university
Land-grant universities (also called land-grant colleges or land grant institutions) are institutions of higher education in the
United States that have been designated by each state to receive the benefits of the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890.The Morrill Acts funded educational institutions by granting federally controlled land to the states. The mission of these institutions, as set forth in the 1862 Act, is to teach
agriculture ,military tactics , themechanic arts , andhome economics , not to the exclusion of classical studies, so that members of the working classes might obtain a practical collegeeducation . [7 U.S.C. § 304.]The Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the predecessor to
Michigan State University , was charteredFebruary 12 1855 as the nation’s first land-grant institution, receiving a 14,000-acre appropriation of state-owned land. Its charter served as a model for the Morrill Act of 1862. The first land-grant university newly "created" under the Morrill Act of 1862 wasKansas State University , established onFebruary 16 1863 . The "oldest" land-grant university isRutgers University , which was founded in 1766.The mission of the land-grant universities was subsequently expanded by the
Hatch Act of 1887 , which provided federal funds to states to establish a series ofagricultural experiment station s under the direction of each state's land-grant college, as well as pass along new information, especially in the areas of soil minerals and plant growth. The outreach mission was further expanded by theSmith-Lever Act of 1914 to include cooperative extension — the sending of agents into rural areas to help bring the results of agricultural research to the end users. Beyond the original land grants, each land-grant college receives annual Federal appropriations for research and extension work on the condition that those funds are matched by state funds.Land-grant universities are not to be confused with
sea grant colleges (a program instituted in 1966),space grant colleges (instituted in 1988), urban-grant universities orsun grant colleges (instituted in 2003). In some states, the land-grant missions for agricultural research and extension have been relegated to a statewide agency of the university system rather than the original land-grant campus; an example is theUniversity of Arkansas Division of Agriculture .History
The universities were initially known as land-grant
college s. Today, only a small handful of the seventy-some institutions which evolved from the Morrill Acts still have "College" in their official names.The
University of the District of Columbia received land-grant status and a $7.24 million endowment (USD), in lieu of a land grant, in 1967. In a 1972 Special Education Amendment,American Samoa ,Guam ,Micronesia ,Northern Marianas , and the Virgin Islands each received $3 million.In 1994, 29 tribal colleges and universities became land grant institutions under the Elementary and Secondary Education Reauthorization Act. In 2008, 32 tribal colleges and universities have land grant status. Most of these are two-year degree granting colleges. However, six are four-year institutions, and two offer a master's degree.
Relevant legislation
*The
Morrill Act of 1862
*TheHatch Act of 1887
*The secondMorrill Act of 1890
*TheAdams Act - 1906
*TheNelson Act - 1907
*TheSmith-Lever Act of 1914
*Chapter 79 - May 8, 1914
*TheSmith-Hughes Act - 1917
*TheParnell Act - 1925
*TheCopper-Ketcham Act - 1928
*TheBankhead-Jones Act of 1935
*TheBankhead-Flannegan Act - 1945
*TheResearch Marketing Act - 1946
*Amendment toSmith-Lever Act - 1953, 1955, 1961, 1962, 1968
*AmendedHatch Act - 1955
*TheMcIntire-Stennis Act - 1962
*TheResearch Facilities Act - 1965
*Public Law 89-106 - 1965
*TheNational Sea Grant College and Program Act - 1966
*TheRural Development Act - 1972
*TheFood and Agriculture Act - 1977
*TheNational Agricultural Research Extension and Teaching Act - Title XIV - 1977
*TheResource Extension Act - 1978
*Amendment toTitle XIV - 1981
*TheAgriculture and Food Act - 1981
*Amendment toTitle XIV of Food Security Act - 1985
*Elementary and Secondary Education Reauthorization Act. - 1994See also
*
List of land-grant universities
*National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges
*Sea Grant Colleges
*Space Grant Colleges
*Sun Grant Colleges
*State university References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.