Through the study of Environmental Sciences, students will learn the science and experience the beauty of the outdoor environment. Environmental processes occurring on the planet govern the movement of air, energy, matter, and water. The relative role of the non-land grants in educating students in agriculture-related academic specializations is discussed in Chapter 3.Earth’s environment provides conditions conducive for life: an oxygenated atmosphere water resources and soil as a medium for plant growth. Over time, colleges of agriculture have been established at non-land grant institutions as well. 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. 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. In others, such as North Carolina, Michigan, and Oregon, higher education and research functions are shared with other prominent public institutions. In some states, like California, Maryland, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, land grant universities have become the foremost public institutions of higher education and scientific research. citizens began to attend college, most colleges of agriculture were transformed into full-fledged universities. economy grew and changed, so did the nature of demands for education and scientific pursuit. 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. The First Morrill Act (1862): Donating Public Lands for Colleges of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts In addition to being part of the land grant system, thschools are among the more than 100 historically black colleges and universities in the United States. Today there institutions-including one private institution, Tuskegee University-located primarily in the southeast ( Table 1-1 Figure 1-1). Thus the 1890 act led to the establishment of land grant institutions for African Americans. A state could escape this provision, however, if separate institutions were maintained and the funds divided in a "just," but not necessarily equal, manner. In addition to appropriating funding, the Second Morrill Act also forbade racial discrimination in admissions policies for colleges receiving these federal funds. The Second Morrill Act, which provided for annual appropriations to each state to support its land grant college, was passed by Congress in 1890. The act gave rise to a network of often poorly financed colleges known as the ''1862s'' ( Table 1-1 Figure 1-1). Public universities existed already in some states however, most states responded to the Morrill Act by legislating new agricultural and mechanical arts colleges rather than by endowing existing state institutions (Kerr, 1987). The legislative mandate for these land grant colleges helped extend higher education to broad segments of the U.S. territories and the District of Columbia. Land grants for the establishment of colleges of agriculture and mechanical arts were also later given to U.S. This law gave states public lands provided the lands be sold or used for profit and the proceeds used to establish at least one college-hence, land grant colleges-that would teach agriculture and the mechanical arts. The land grant system began in 1862 with a piece of legislation known as the Morrill Act (see box copy, p. The history of land grant colleges of agriculture is intertwined with the history of higher education for U.S. WHAT ARE LAND GRANT COLLEGES OF AGRICULTURE?