NDSU Land Grant Heritage

By Professor David B. Danbom, Department of History, North Dakota State University, Fargo

North Dakota State University is a land-grant college. In the most basic sense, that means that our institution is one of nearly 70 in the United States that received an endowment of Federal land under the terms of the Morrill Land-Grant College Act of 1862. This legislation provided each state with 30,000 acres of land for every one of its Congressmen and Senators, to be sold, rented, or otherwise used to support colleges. When NDSU opened in 1890, the funds came from the sale of some of the 90,000 acres North Dakota received under the Morrill Act.

Photograph courtesy of  NDSU University Archives

The land-grant college goes far beyond the specifics of the Morrill Act's distribution of land. The land-grant colleges are unique not only for the nature of their endowment, but also for the principles they represent: A liberal and practical education, opportunity for ordinary people, and service to the public.

When Senator Justin Morrill of Vermont surveyed the American educational scene at the time of the Civil War, he was disturbed by what he saw. College educations were available to but a tiny handful of people. Only the children of the rich--bankers, manufacturers, lawyers, merchants and doctors--enjoyed the opportunity for a college education. The education which colleges provided seemed to Morrill to be irrelevant to real life. Students took courses in the classics, philosophy, and ancient languages. Such courses helped them fit comfortably into their social class, but they did not seem to Morrill to make graduates more productive or useful citizens.

The Morrill Land-Grant College Act was designed to rectify both of these shortcomings. The legislation called for colleges "where the leading object shall be, without excluding other scientific and classical studies...to teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts...in order to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions in life."

"Liberal and practical education" -that's what Morrill was aiming at and that's what we represent at NDSU. In terms of colleges, business, arts, humanities and social sciences, and science and mathematics generally are based in the "liberal" education tradition, while agriculture, engineering and architecture, human development and education, and pharmacy are rooted in the mutual endeavor Justin Morrill envisioned: Educating people for productive work in useful professions and for effective, enjoyable and intelligent citizenship in a free society.

Photograph courtesy of  NDSU University Archives

Morrill believed the recipients of this "liberal and practical education" should be the "industrial classes." By that he meant the sons and daughters of ordinary people--of farmers, craftsmen and factory workers. Offering college educations to ordinary people was a radical idea. But this was a radical time. The same Congress that passed the Morrill Act also enacted the Homestead Act, which gave settlers 160 acres of Federal land virtual for free if they would improve it. This Congress was also deeply involved in fighting a war to free four million people held as slaves. This remarkable Congress was not repelled by the idea of extending opportunity. Neither are we. That is why we favor open enrollment, low tuition, and liberal loan programs. It's our mission to offer opportunity to ordinary people, and we want to continue that.

The commitment of the land-grants to public service is the final factor that sets them apart from other colleges. In the early years, service to agriculture through teaching, research, and extension was most important. The Smith-Lever Act of 1914 dramatically improved that service by providing Federal funds for the country agent system. Everyone in North Dakota recognizes and appreciates the devotion of agriculture to public service. But the whole University is committed to public service. When NDSU people serve on state committees and boards, when they serve their communities and community organizations, when they present plays or football games, when they speak at Rotary or on the radio, they are carrying out their public service function. We are a "people's college"--the people created and sustain us, and we serve them. That is as it should be.

An education combining liberal and practical components, a commitment to provide opportunity to ordinary people and devotion to public service--these are the characteristics that make the land-grants unique in America and, many of us believe, an important part of its past and its future.

From the introduction in Skills for Academic Success at NDSU, the text used in University Studies 189 courses.