History and Development
Texas A&M University, the state's first public
institution of higher education, opened for classes in 1876.
It is now one of the select few institutions in the nation to
hold land grant, sea grant and space grant designations. The
University owes its origin to the Morrill Act approved by Congress
on July 2, 1862. This act provided for donation of public land
to the states. The land was to be sold at auction, and the proceeds
were set aside in a perpetual fund. The act directed that interest
from this fund be used to support a college whose "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 mechanic arts...in
order to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial
classes in the several pursuits and professions in life."
By resolution of the Legislature of the State
of Texas in November 1866, Texas agreed to provide for a college
under the terms of the Morrill Act, but no such institution was
organized until the establishment of the Agricultural and Mechanical
College of Texas by the act of the Twelfth Texas Legislature
on April 17, 1871. The same act appropriated $75,000 for the
erection of buildings and bound the state to defray all expenses
of the college exceeding the annual interest from the endowment.
Proceeds from the sale of the 180,000 acres of land scrip received
under the Land Grant College Act were invested in $174,000 of
gold frontier defense bonds to Texas, forming a perpetual endowment
for the institution. A commission created to locate the institution
accepted the offer of 2,416 acres of land from the citizens of
Brazos County in 1871, and instruction began in 1876.
As the State of Texas grew, so did its land grant
institution. Texas A&M now has a physical plant valued at
more than $1 billion. The campus in College Station includes
5,200 acres and is one of the largest campuses of any major institution
of higher education in the nation.
In keeping with the diversified and expanded character
of the institution, the 58th Legislature of Texas, on August
23, 1963, changed the name of the Agricultural and Mechanical
College of Texas to Texas A&M University.
On September 17, 1971, the designation "sea
grant college" was assigned to Texas A&M University
in recognition of its achievements in oceanographic and marine
resources development. Texas A&M was one of the first four
institutions nationwide to achieve this distinction. Patterned
after the century-old land grant idea, sea grant colleges are
federal-state partnerships for furthering marine work through
practical research, education and advisory services. The designation
clearly establishes the University's leadership relative to marine
affairs of the state.
Texas A&M added a third special designation
to its credentials on August 31, 1989, when it was named a "space
grant college." This new designation, bestowed by the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration, came to the University
based on its continuing commitment to space research and its
participation in the Texas Space Grant Consortium, a group of
34 institutions that includes universities, industrial organizations,
non-profit organizations, and government agencies within Texas
under the leadership of Texas A&M University, The University
of Texas at Austin and the University of Houston.
In addition to its traditional strengths in agriculture
and engineering, Texas A&M has established itself as a leader
in such newer technological areas as the space, nuclear, computer,
biotechnological, oceanographic and marine resources fields.
It also has placed added emphasis on the arts and sciences and
business and continues to enhance its prominent role in these
fields.
A mandatory military component was a part of the
land grant designation until the 1950s, and the Corps of Cadets
has played an important part in the history and development of
Texas A&M. Even though membership in the Corps of Cadets
became voluntary in 1965, Texas A&M historically has produced
more officers than any other institution in the nation with the
exception of the service academies. The University is one of
only three institutions with a full-time corps of cadets including
ROTC programs leading to commissions in all branches of service--Army,
Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard.
Texas A&M offers a variety of programs in
both undergraduate and graduate studies through its academic
colleges and schools--Agriculture and Life Sciences, Architecture,
George Bush School of Government and Public Service, Mays Business
School, Education and Human Development, Dwight Look College
of Engineering, Geosciences, Liberal Arts, Science, and Veterinary
Medicine. Texas A&M University at Galveston is the marine
and maritime branch campus of Texas A&M University. In addition,
Texas A&M's extensive research efforts in all fields, in
conjunction with agricultural and engineering experiment stations
resulted in expenditures in the area of $400 million and has
been consistently ranked in the top tier of research institutions
by the National Science Foundation.
Classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a Research
I institution, Texas A&M embraces its mission of the advancement
of knowledge and human achievement in all its dimensions. The
research mission is a key to advancing economic development in
both public and private sectors. Integration of research with
teaching prepares students to compete in a knowledge-based society
and to continue developing their own creativity, learning and
skills beyond graduation.
In 2001, Texas A&M University was admitted
to the Association of American Universities (AAU), the prestigious
organization founded in 1900, that restricts its ranks to the
nation's premier public and private institutions of higher learning.
The University's Fall 2002 enrollment
was 45,657 on the College Station and Galveston campuses, including
7,872 graduate students. Every state in the nation and more than
100 foreign countries are represented in the coeducational student
body. To date, Texas A&M has awarded approximately 294,604
academic degrees including 13,825 doctorates, 43,292 degrees
at the master's level, and 6,236 doctor of veterinary medicine
degrees. As evidence of the recent growth and development of
the University, more than one-half of the advanced degrees have
been conferred in the last 15 years.
