We Serve South Carolina
As one of the premier resources in South Carolina, SC State PSA conducts problem-solving
research and provides quality outreach services and programs to rural and urban limited
resource individuals, families and communities.
SC State Public Service & Agriculture delivers its programming through its institutes
and centers and its 1890 Research & Extension division.
The research and outreach programs are relevant in meeting the needs of those who
SC State PSA serves, from advancing agriculture and protecting natural resources;
to helping the state’s small farmers increase their revenue through enterprise diversification;
engaging youth to reach their fullest potential; to educating individuals and families
on health and wellness; preparing and exposing students to college and career readiness
through innovative educational strategies; and providing various opportunities that
build economic development for disadvantaged communities.
How to Be an 1890 Ag Innovation Scholar
Accomplishing the Mission for More than a Century
Land-grant universities have been the foundation of America’s agricultural productivity
for more than a century. Their beginnings are based on the passage of the First Morrill
Act of 1862, which permitted states to receive federal support in the form of land
to establish colleges or universities.
As prescribed by the Act, land-grant institutions were mandated to teach agriculture,
military tactics and mechanical arts. In 1890, Congress passed the Second Morrill
Act of 1890. This provision inspired the creation of the nation’s 19 historically
black land-grant colleges, also known as 1890 institutions.
The Act required that states in the then-segregated South establish institutions of
higher education for blacks. Later additions to the land-grant system have been included
in the last decades. The expansion of the land-grant system accommodated U.S. jurisdictions
and the inclusion of the nation’s Native American colleges.
For SC State University, the First and Second Morrill Acts are the foundations on
which SC State was established and remain integral in helping the university preserve
its 1890 land-grant legacy of enhancing quality of life of South Carolinians through
teaching, research and service. The university was first created in 1872 in compliance
with the 1862 Morrill Land Grant Act, when the South Carolina General Assembly created
the South Carolina Agricultural and Mechanical Institute in 1872 in Orangeburg, S.C.
This institute existed within the institution of Claflin College, now Claflin University,
from 1872 until 1896.
Under the 1890 Morrill Land Grant Act, the South Carolina General Assembly enacted
legislation in 1895 for the severance of the South Carolina Agricultural and Mechanical
Institute, from Claflin College. On March 4, 1896, SC State University opened independent
of Claflin College as a land-grant institution under the name of the Colored Normal
Industrial Agricultural and Mechanical College of South Carolina. The name was changed
to South Carolina State College in 1954. The school received university status in
1992 and adopted its present name, South Carolina State University.
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