Michigan Education Mar. 2014 | Page 9

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Michigan Agriculture College School For the Farmers

By: faith Dysard

On February 12th, 1855, Michigan Agriculture College was formed. A building wasn’t complete until 1857, and in May of that year, 81 students enrolled and began their first classes at MAC. The students spent an average of 4 hours a day on the farm. The president was Joseph R. Williams, and the supervision of the school was left up to the Board of Education.

For many years, even after the establishment of MAC, there was a back and forth debate on the pros and cons of attaching the school to University of Michigan. Finally, after the Morrill Act in 1862, Michigan received 240,000 acres of land which provided the financial funding that was need to fund and expand the school. This land was provided to two additional states, Pennsylvania and Iowa, but Michigan was the first to teach scientific agriculture.