This publication is a source of basic information about the history and current workings of the land-grant university system. The first section briefly describes the nature of land grant universities as institutions that have been designated by state legislatures or Congress to receive the benefits of the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890. Their original mission was to teach agriculture, military tactics, and the mechanical arts as well as classical studies to the industrial classes. This section also describes their rationale, locations, and the work of Justin Smith Morrill who introduced the founding legislation. The next section describes the development of these institutions from 1862 to 1994 covering their purpose, federal funding, and later additions to the land-grant system (University of the District of Columbia, institutions in the territories, and the tribal colleges). There follows a chronology of federal legislation affecting higher education from 1787 to 1994, and a list of 105 land-grant colleges and universities grouped by state. A further section provides key passages of text from the First Morrill Act, the Second Morrill Act, the Hatch Act of 1887, the Smith-Lever Act of 1914, and the Improving America's School Act of 1994. Final sections list 15 suggested readings and offer key facts about the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges. (Contains 15 references.) (JB)