A proposal now under consideration in the Ohio Senate calls for the designation of Central State University as a land-grant university. The designation of land-grant status would allow Central State to apply for federal agriculture research funds and for construction funds reserved for land-grant institutions. Central State is a historically Black university in Wilberforce, Ohio.
Up to now the only land-grant institution in the state is Ohio State University. In 1890 Central State sought designation as a land-grant institution but the proposal was scuttled by former U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes who sat on the board of trustees of Ohio State University.
