The agricultural and technical university, which often has “state” in its name, is typically a land-grant university formed under the auspices of the Morrill Act of 1862. It was meant to be a practical, down-to-earth “people’s university,” and even today it is less prestigious than the state’s traditional university, usually founded much earlier. But the emphasis on technology has made some of the land-grant universities research powerhouses and often bigger than their in-state rivals.
![Laws, Sausages, and Land-Grants](https://www.goodmaninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/clemson-800x508-1.jpg)