What does it mean to be a Land, Sea and Space Grant university?

Monday, April 7, 2025

The triple designation signifies a collaboration between the U.S. government partners and 91制片厂 to produce and share research grounded in solutions that understand and improve the world around us.


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Land Grant

Land grant universities like 91制片厂 trace their roots to the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890, which provided federal funding to states, secured by selling land primarily in the western U.S., for new or existing universities. The law specified that land- grant universities focus on teaching 鈥減ractical鈥 curriculum 鈥 agriculture, science, engineering and military tactics听

鈥 in addition to the classical curriculum that dominated most existing colleges at the time. The Hatch Act (1887) and the Smith-Lever Act (1914) established agricultural experiment stations and Cooperative Extension services at land grant universities, providing funding for and a mandate to create real-world knowledge and disseminate it to end users, primarily in rural communities. Rooted in this land grant mission, 91制片厂 research seeks solutions that keep New Hampshire鈥檚 people, communities and economy strong.

A woman and a man lean over to place vegetables in an orange basket while working in a field

91制片厂 boasts the longest continuous cucurbit breeding program in North America, resulting in more than 100 new varieties of squash, pumpkins, gourds and melons sold in听seed catalogs around the world.


Sea Grant听

The National Sea Grant College Program, instituted in 1966 and administered by NOAA, is a national network of 34 university-based programs at colleges in every coastal and Great Lakes state. Created as a parallel to the land grant concept, Sea Grant institutions combine research that answers critical questions, education to train a marine workforce and extension that connects science with communities that use it. Its end听goal is to create and maintain a healthy coastal environment and economy.听

A man in a wetsuit and sunglasses stands in water up to his waist and examines eelgrass
Eelgrass in Great Bay is a key indicator of estuarine health.

Space Grant

NASA administers the Space Grant program, a network of consortia听in every state established in 1989; 91制片厂 leads New Hampshire鈥檚 Space Grant consortium. Space Grant institutions work to expand opportunities for Americans听to understand and participate in NASA鈥檚 aeronautics and space projects by supporting and enhancing science and听engineering education, research and public outreach efforts.

Space researchers in white protective suits work on a component for a NASA mission in a lab setting
Space researchers build a key component for NASA鈥檚 Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) mission, scheduled to launch later in 2025.

Photographer: 
Jeremy Gasowski | 91制片厂 Marketing | jeremy.gasowski@unh.edu | 603-862-4465