Wikipedia:Today's featured article/August 29, 2012

The history of Michigan State University (MSU) dates to 1855, when the Michigan Legislature established the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan. As the first agricultural college in the United States, the school served as a prototype for future Land Grant institutions under the Morrill Act. The school's first class graduated in 1861. That same year, the Michigan Legislature approved a plan to allow the school to adopt a four-year curriculum and grant degrees comparable to those of rival University of Michigan. In 1870, the College became co-educational and expanded its curriculum beyond agriculture into a broad array of coursework commencing with home economics for women students. The school established "Farmers' Institutes" as a means of reaching out to the state's agricultural community; the program gradually became the MSU Extension Services. After World War II, the college gained admission to the Big Ten Conference and grew to become one of the largest educational institutions in the United States. In its centennial year of 1955, the state officially made the school a university and the current name was adopted in 1964 after Michigan voters adopted a new constitution. (more...)

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