Questions? Call 888-624-8373

HARDBACK
list:$34.95
Web:$31.46
add to cart

PDF BOOK
your price: $27.00
add to cart

Rights & Permissions

topleft topright

Colleges of Agriculture at the Land Grant Universities: A Profile (1995)
Board on Agriculture (BOA)

Page
2
bottomleft bottomright
  E-mail
 Facebook
 Digg
 Stumble
 Twitter
More

The following HTML text is provided to enhance online readability. Many aspects of typography translate only awkwardly to HTML. Please use the page image as the authoritative form to ensure accuracy.

Colleges of Agriculture at the Land Grant Universities: A Profile

The First Morrill Act (1862): Donating Public Lands for Colleges of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts

Section 4 (original). And be it further enacted, That all moneys derived from the sale of the lands aforesaid by the States to which the lands are apportioned, and from the sale of land scrip herein before provided for, shall be invested in stock of the United States, or of the States, or some other safe stocks, yielding not less than five per centum upon the par value of said stocks; and that the moneys so invested shall constitute a perpetual fund, the capital of which shall remain forever undiminished (except so far as may be provided in section fifth of this act), and the interest of which shall be inviolably appropriated, by each State which may take and claim the benefit of this act, to the endowment, support, and maintenance of at least one college where the leading object shall be, without excluding other scientific and classical studies, and including military tactics, to teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts, in such manner as the legislatures of the States may respectively prescribe, in order to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions in life.

  • Over the decades, as the U.S. economy grew and changed, so did the nature of demands for education and scientific pursuit. As more and more U.S. citizens began to attend college, most colleges of agriculture were transformed into full-fledged universities. In some states, like California, Maryland, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, land grant universities have become the foremost public institutions of higher education and scientific research. In others, such as North Carolina, Michigan, and Oregon, higher education and research functions are shared with other prominent public institutions.

  • Today, although many land grant universities are still known for their agricultural college roots, others have little agricultural identity and students are rarely from farm families. Despite their expansion well beyond the teaching of agriculture and mechanical arts, almost every land grant university still has a "college of agriculture"—colleges more similar to each other than are the universities where they are located.

  • Over time, colleges of agriculture have been established at non-land grant institutions as well. The relative role of the non-land grants in educating students in agriculture-related academic specializations is discussed in Chapter 3.

A series of legislative acts endowed the colleges with a three-part function encompassing teaching, research, and extension.

 Page
2