Alabama state lawmakers designated Alabama A&M University in Normal as a land-grant institution for African-American students in 1891. It has more than 5,000 students and sits on 800 acres.
Auburn University, located in Auburn, is the state's largest land-grant institution, with more than 25,000 students on a campus of more than 1,840 acres. It started as a small, all-male college in the 1850s, but has since grown to have branch campuses in other parts of the state.
Although it wasn't part of the original land-grant designation, Tuskegee University is generally considered one of Alabama's three land-grant universities. This traditionally African-American institution has 3,000 students and sits on more than 5,000 acres of forested land in Tuskegee Institute.
The goals of the Morrill Act, which established the nation's land-grant universities, were to help educate members of the working class. In Alabama, this is reflected in the management of the state's cooperative extension system by Alabama A&M and Auburn. Tuskegee is known for its agriculture and veterinary sciences programs.