What is a land-grant university?
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Industrialist John Purdue committed $150,000 to Tippecanoe County’s successful bid to become the site of Indiana’s land-grant university. On May 6, 1869, the Indiana General Assembly officially established the new institution, calling it Purdue University. (Purdue University photo)
Teaching, research, service roles are pillars of the land-grant mission
Purdue University takes its status as a land-grant university seriously.
Type the university’s name into a Google search bar and you’ll see proof in the primary text that links to its homepage: “Purdue University – Indiana’s Land Grant University.”
But what does that mean exactly? What makes Purdue and its 111 land-grant peers – a who’s who of prestigious research universities that include Big Ten members Ohio State, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Illinois, Nebraska, Maryland, Minnesota, Rutgers and Penn State – different from other colleges and universities?
Why do initiatives like Purdue Global and Purdue Polytechnic High Schools (PPHS) fit into Purdue’s land-grant legacy and future?
If you’re a Purdue graduate or student, why should you take pride in the university’s land-grant tradition?
And if you have no connection to Purdue at all, why should you care that these universities even exist?
This is the second chapter in a four-part series that should help answer those questions, sharing why land-grant universities came into existence and how their creation produced countless benefits for the students they educate and the communities they serve.
Our first chapter focuses on Purdue’s tradition of educational opportunity, revealing how the intent behind new initiatives like Purdue Global, Purdue University Online and PPHS is no different from the spirit that drove the university in its earliest days. The remaining chapters will address activities that make Purdue unique among these universities and why flexibility will be important if land-grant institutions are to maintain their prominent position within academia and society.
By sharing these stories, we hope to reveal the through line connecting Purdue’s past to its present, influencing many of the decisions and discoveries that enabled its emergence as one of the nation’s top universities. The driving force is the land-grant directive to teach, conduct research and serve the state of Indiana and beyond.
If you’re a Boilermaker, much of what you love best about Purdue is likely related to this mission in one way or another. That’s why you should care.
Now let’s get to some of those questions:
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Why were land-grant universities created?
Simply put, land-grant universities are problem solvers – a defining characteristic that ranks among the primary reasons these institutions were created. They were designed to give working-class Americans their first chance at a college education. And that’s only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to their impact.
When he first proposed land-grant legislation in the 1850s, U.S. Rep. Justin S. Morrill of Vermont aimed to “have learning more widely disseminated,” particularly in two primary areas: agriculture and the mechanic arts (engineering).
Morrill and his cohorts observed that American farming productivity lagged behind that of European countries that experienced great success by applying scientific learning to their work. In the same vein, the Civil War-era U.S. lacked a workforce with sufficient training to meet the long-term needs of an increasingly industrialized nation.
“Morrill said, ‘This country is expanding rapidly. We need engineers to build roads. We need engineers to build bridges. We need engineers to build and operate factories. We need people who understand science and agriculture,’” says John Norberg, a Purdue University historian who has written eight books about the university and its people.
The Morrill Act offered states an opportunity to sell plots of federal land, much of which had once been inhabited by Native American tribes. In order to increase U.S. agricultural and engineering expertise, proceeds from these land sales would help fund the creation of universities that emphasized these subjects, as well as military tactics and classical studies.
The universities the legislation spawned – many of which now rank among America’s top public research institutions – went on to surpass even Morrill’s ambitious initial vision through their unique commitment to teaching, research and community engagement.
How does extension make land-grant universities unique?
Land-grant universities distinguish themselves from other institutions by directing their collective brainpower and resources toward research that addresses society’s economic, political or social problems. Then they share what they learn with the public in an effort to identify workable solutions.