Oklahoma State University History

FOUNDED ON DEC. 25, 1890,

only 20 months after the Land Run of 1889, Oklahoma State University began as Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College, the state’s land-grant institution. When the first students assembled for class in 1891, no buildings, books or curriculum existed. It took 2 1/2 years after classes began in local churches for the college’s 144 students to move into the first academic building, Old Central. Oklahoma A&M’s first commencement, with six graduates, was in 1896. Land-grant institutions were created during Abraham Lincoln’s presidency to provide all citizens with greater access to a college education. OSU continues that landgrant tradition today. The large and comprehensive Stillwater campus comprises 27,819 acres and 493 buildings, all while maximizing the personal attention given to each student.