A Land, Sea and Space Grant Institution
"The Land Grant University System is being built on behalf of the people, who have invested in these public institutions their hopes, their support, and their confidence."
--Abraham Lincoln
What is a Land Grant Institution?
Founded in 1917 as the Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines, the University of Alaska Fairbanks is the state's only Land Grant college. Throughout the history of North America's expansion and colonization, grants of land from governments to the people have been a driving force behind the settlement and establishment of communities.
The Morrill Land Grant Act, signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln in 1862, created Land Grant colleges to serve as ''the people's universities, bringing the research and knowledge of the campus to the people where they live and work.''
At the end of the 19th century, the Interior's Tanana Valley was one of the most productive agricultural regions in Alaska. In 1906, the U.S. Department of Agriculture established a 1,400-acre Agricultural Experiment Station in Fairbanks on a site that was later to become part of the UAF campus.
What is Sea Grant?
The National Sea Grant College Program Act of 1966 provided the foundation for universities to establish programs in research, education and outreach to develop wise use and conservation of America's marine and coastal resources. The University of Alaska was granted Sea Grant college status in 1980. The Alaska Sea Grant College Program, hosted by UAF, is part of a national network of Sea Grant colleges located on both coasts in each Great Lakes state and Puerto Rico.
What is Space Grant?
UAF was designated a space grant institution in 1991 through the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Act. UAF's Poker Flat Research Range, located 30 miles north of Fairbanks and operated by the UAF Geophysical Institute under contract to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, is the world's only university-owned scientific rocket launching facility.