The Louisiana State Legislature has approved a measure that recommends that historically Black Grambling State University in Louisiana be issued status as a land grant university. Legislation will now be considered in the U.S Congress.
The designation of land grant status would be beneficial to the university in many ways. The university would have access to a share of federal funds earmarked for land grant universities. The designation would help foster partnerships and research with other land grant institutions. The designation would also provide new grant opportunities in area such as agricultural, science, military science and engineering, all disciplines that are part of the mission of land grant institutions.
Grambling State estimates that a designation of land grant status would bring in between $5 million and $10 million annually.
While most land grant universities were established in the late 1800s and early 1900s, there is recent precedent for the establishment of new land-grant institutions. In 2014, Congress granted land grant status to Central State University, a historically Black institution in Wilberforce, Ohio. Perhaps working against Grambling’s bid is the fact that there is already a historically Black land grant institution in Louisiana. This is Southern University in Baton Rouge.
