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The land-grant university system is a federal-state partnership. The United States Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) publishes the official directory of these institutions and sorts them into three categories: 1862, 1890 and 1994. This page lists every institution in each category as shown on the NIFA Land-grant University Website Directory on 29 October 2026, and explains why published counts differ between sources.
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Suggested question: “What is the list of land grant universities?”
What counts as a land-grant university
A land-grant university is an institution designated under federal land-grant legislation. The Congressional Research Service (CRS) report R45897 describes the three categories this way: 1862 Institutions are the original land-grant colleges and universities established through the Morrill Act of 1862; 1890 Institutions are HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) established as land-grant institutions as a result of the Morrill Act of 1890; and 1994 Institutions are TCUs (Tribal Colleges and Universities) recognized through the Equity in Educational Land-Grant Status Act of 1994. The statute behind the first two categories is covered in the CASRAI guide to the Morrill Act.
Each category has its own statutory footing, which is why a single list of land grant universities is really three lists. The table sets the categories side by side.
| Category | Established through | Count in CRS R45897 | NIFA directory, 29 Oct 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1862 land-grant universities | Morrill Act of 1862, as amended | 57 | 57 institutions (states, the District of Columbia and territories) |
| 1890 land-grant universities (HBCUs) | Morrill Act of 1890, as amended | 19 | 19 institutions |
| 1994 land-grant colleges (TCUs) | Equity in Educational Land-Grant Status Act of 1994, as amended | 36 defined in statute | 35 institutions |
1862 land-grant universities by state
The NIFA directory lists 57 institutions of type 1862, one per state or territory. Where the directory also lists a college of agriculture or an extension unit of the same university as a separate row, that row is not counted again here. The directory includes the District of Columbia and the territories, so the entries are not all in the 50 states.
| State or territory | 1862 institution |
|---|---|
| Alabama | Auburn University |
| Alaska | University of Alaska |
| American Samoa | American Samoa Community College |
| Arizona | University of Arizona |
| Arkansas | University of Arkansas |
| California | University of California System |
| Colorado | Colorado State University |
| Connecticut | University of Connecticut |
| Delaware | University of Delaware |
| District of Columbia | University of the District of Columbia |
| Florida | University of Florida |
| Georgia | University of Georgia |
| Guam | University of Guam |
| Hawaii | University of Hawaii |
| Idaho | University of Idaho |
| Illinois | University of Illinois |
| Indiana | Purdue University |
| Iowa | Iowa State University |
| Kansas | Kansas State University |
| Kentucky | University of Kentucky |
| Louisiana | Louisiana State University |
| Maine | University of Maine |
| Maryland | University of Maryland at College Park |
| Massachusetts | University of Massachusetts |
| Michigan | Michigan State University |
| Micronesia | College of Micronesia |
| Minnesota | University of Minnesota |
| Mississippi | Mississippi State University |
| Missouri | University of Missouri |
| Montana | Montana State University |
| Nebraska | University of Nebraska |
| Nevada | University of Nevada, Reno |
| New Hampshire | University of New Hampshire |
| New Jersey | Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey |
| New Mexico | New Mexico State University |
| New York | Cornell University |
| North Carolina | North Carolina State University |
| North Dakota | North Dakota State University |
| Northern Mariana Islands | Northern Marianas College |
| Ohio | Ohio State University |
| Oklahoma | Oklahoma State University |
| Oregon | Oregon State University |
| Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania State University |
| Puerto Rico | University of Puerto Rico |
| Rhode Island | University of Rhode Island |
| South Carolina | Clemson University |
| South Dakota | South Dakota State University |
| Tennessee | University of Tennessee |
| Texas | Texas A&M University |
| U.S. Virgin Islands | University of the Virgin Islands |
| Utah | Utah State University |
| Vermont | University of Vermont |
| Virginia | Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University |
| Washington | Washington State University |
| West Virginia | West Virginia University |
| Wisconsin | University of Wisconsin-Madison |
| Wyoming | University of Wyoming |
1890 land-grant universities (HBCUs)
1890 land-grant universities list
The NIFA directory shows 19 institutions of type 1890, matching the count of nineteen in CRS R45897, which describes them as primarily in the southeastern states. These are the 1890 land-grant universities as listed on the directory on 29 October 2026.
| State | 1890 land-grant university |
|---|---|
| Alabama | Alabama A&M University |
| Alabama | Tuskegee University |
| Arkansas | University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff |
| Delaware | Delaware State University |
| Florida | Florida A&M University |
| Georgia | Fort Valley State University |
| Kentucky | Kentucky State University |
| Louisiana | Southern University and A&M College |
| Maryland | University of Maryland Eastern Shore |
| Mississippi | Alcorn State University |
| Missouri | Lincoln University |
| North Carolina | North Carolina A&T State University |
| Ohio | Central State University |
| Oklahoma | Langston University |
| South Carolina | South Carolina State University |
| Tennessee | Tennessee State University |
| Texas | Prairie View A&M University |
| Virginia | Virginia State University |
| West Virginia | West Virginia State University |
The directory lists some of these institutions on more than one row, for example a university together with its college of agriculture or its cooperative extension program. Those are units of the same institution and are counted once above.
1994 land-grant colleges (tribal colleges)
The 1994 category covers Tribal Colleges and Universities recognised through the Equity in Educational Land-Grant Status Act of 1994. The NIFA directory showed the following 35 institutions of type 1994 on 29 October 2026.
| State | 1994 institution (as titled in the NIFA directory) |
|---|---|
| Alaska | Ilisagvik College |
| Arizona | Dine College |
| Arizona | Tohono O’Odham Community |
| Kansas | Haskell Indian Nations University |
| Michigan | Bay Mills Community College |
| Michigan | Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College |
| Michigan | Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College |
| Minnesota | Fond Du Lac Tribal & Community College |
| Minnesota | Leech Lake Tribal College |
| Minnesota | Red Lake Nation College |
| Minnesota | White Earth Tribal and Community College |
| Montana | Aaniiih Nakoda College |
| Montana | Blackfeet Community College |
| Montana | Chief Dull Knife Community College |
| Montana | Fort Peck Community College |
| Montana | Little Big Horn College |
| Montana | Salish Kootenai College |
| Montana | Stone Child College |
| Nebraska | Little Priest Tribal College |
| Nebraska | Nebraska Indian Community College |
| New Mexico | Institute of American Indian Arts |
| New Mexico | Navajo Technical University |
| New Mexico | Southwest Indian Polytechnic Institute |
| North Dakota | Cankdeska Cikana Community College |
| North Dakota | Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College |
| North Dakota | Sitting Bull College |
| North Dakota | Turtle Mountain Community College |
| North Dakota | United Tribes Technical College |
| Oklahoma | College of the Muscogee Nation |
| South Dakota | Oglala Lakota College |
| South Dakota | Sinte Gleska University |
| South Dakota | Sisseton Wahpeton Community College |
| Washington | Northwest Indian College |
| Wisconsin | College of the Menominee Nation |
| Wisconsin | Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa Community College |
How the lists are counted
Published counts differ for reasons that can be traced to the sources themselves.
- Rows are not institutions. The NIFA directory pages mix institutions with their agriculture colleges and extension programs, so the number of rows exceeds the number of institutions in the 1862 and 1890 filters.
- 1862 count. CRS R45897 states there are fifty-seven 1862 Institutions and notes in a footnote that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is an 1862 land-grant university that is not included in that count.
- 1994 count. CRS R45897 says thirty-six 1994 Institutions are defined in statute, and that D-Q University lost accreditation in 2005 and is no longer considered a 1994 Institution. The NIFA directory shows 35 institutions of type 1994.
- Territories and the District of Columbia. The 1862 list includes American Samoa, Guam, Micronesia, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia, so “one per state” would undercount it.
How to check the current list
Designations can change, so use the official source for the live list. On the NIFA Land-grant University Website Directory, the Type filter offers Any, 1890, 1862, 1994 and Extension. Filtering by type returns the same rows used on this page, 10 rows per page, sortable by title. The institutions above are as described on the official page on 29 October 2026.
Related programs
| Topic | What it covers | CASRAI guide |
|---|---|---|
| Morrill Act | The 1862 and 1890 statutes behind those categories, and the 1994 land-grant category | Morrill Act |
| Smith-Lever Act | Funding formula and state match for cooperative extension work at the land-grant institutions | Smith-Lever Act |
| Agricultural science | The field that land-grant research and extension programs are built around | What is agricultural science |
For a related discipline taught at land-grant colleges, see what is agronomy. Federal support to institutions is sometimes delivered through a cooperative agreement; the term page explains how it differs from a grant.
FAQ
What is the list of land grant universities?
It is the NIFA directory of land-grant institutions in three categories: 57 institutions designated through the Morrill Act of 1862, 19 designated through the Morrill Act of 1890, and the tribal colleges recognised through the 1994 Act. Each full list appears above.
Which are the 1890 land-grant universities?
Alabama A&M University, Tuskegee University, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Delaware State University, Florida A&M University, Fort Valley State University, Kentucky State University, Southern University and A&M College, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Alcorn State University, Lincoln University, North Carolina A&T State University, Central State University, Langston University, South Carolina State University, Tennessee State University, Prairie View A&M University, Virginia State University, West Virginia State University. CRS R45897 describes them as HBCUs established as land-grant institutions as a result of the Morrill Act of 1890.
How many land-grant universities are there?
CRS R45897 counts 57 institutions in the 1862 category and 19 in the 1890 category, and the NIFA directory lists the same numbers. For the 1994 category the report cites 36 defined in statute while the directory showed 35 on 29 October 2026. See the counting section above.
Sources
- USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Land-grant University Website Directory, nifa.usda.gov/grants/land-grant-university-website-directory, checked 29 October 2026.
- Congressional Research Service, R45897, “The U.S. Land-Grant University System: Overview and Role in Agricultural Research”, everycrsreport.com/reports/R45897.html, checked 29 October 2026.
