Texas A&M University

Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a <a href="/facts/Public_university/Avsc2TmM">public</a>, <a href="/facts/Land-grant_university/hCRoj5g0">land-grant</a>, <a href="/facts/Research_university/Joe4e6SF">research university</a> in <a href="/facts/College_Station%2c_Texas/mRGe24d6">College Station, Texas</a>, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the <a href="/facts/Flagship_institution/bkQIgekS">flagship institution</a> of the <a href="/facts/Texas_A%2526M_University_System/Dff9Kmag">Texas A&M University System</a> in 1948. Since 2021, Texas A&M has enrolled the <a href="/facts/List_of_United_States_university_campuses_by_enrollment/1KqUHvR9">largest student body in the United States</a>. It is <a href="/facts/Carnegie_Classification_of_Institutions_of_Higher_Education/xyYmXgJ6">classified</a> among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and since 2001 a member of the <a href="/facts/Association_of_American_Universities/kAMDCykI">Association of American Universities</a>.
The university was the first public higher education institution in Texas; it opened for classes on October 4, 1876, as the <a href="/facts/History_of_Texas_A%2526M_University/HeR51X3N">Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas</a> (A.M.C.) under the provisions of the 1862 <a href="/facts/Morrill_Land-Grant_Acts/9xp9DnEN">Morrill Land-Grant Act</a>. In the following decades, the college grew in size and scope, expanding to its largest enrollment during WWII before its first significant stagnation in enrollment post-war. Enrollment grew again in the 1960s under the leadership of President <a href="/facts/James_Earl_Rudder/BSmN3Qpp">James Earl Rudder</a>, during whose tenure, the college desegregated, became coeducational, and ended the requirement for participation in the <a href="/facts/Texas_A%2526M_University_Corps_of_Cadets/5voJLyb9">Corps of Cadets</a>. In 1963, to reflect the institution's expanded roles and academic offerings, the <a href="/facts/Texas_Legislature/fNeBbGSc">Texas Legislature</a> renamed the college Texas A&M University; the letters "A&M" were retained as a tribute to the university's former designation.
<a href="/facts/Campus_of_Texas_A%2526M_University/qRgbuwRc">The university's main campus</a> spans over 5,500 acres (22 km2), and includes the <a href="/facts/George_H._W._Bush_Presidential_Library_and_Museum/XnWbJgNc">George H. W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum</a>. The university offers degrees in more than 130 courses of study through 18 colleges, and houses 21 research institutes. As a <a href="/facts/United_States_senior_military_college/WNJKrk2F">senior military college</a>, Texas A&M is one of six American universities classed as a senior military college and has a full-time, volunteer <a href="/facts/Cadet_Corps/VXBztDAc">Cadet Corps</a> whose members study alongside civilian undergraduate students. About one-fifth of the student body lives on campus. Texas A&M has more than 1,000 officially recognized student organizations. The university's students, alumni, and sports teams are known as <a href="/facts/Texas_A%2526M_Aggies/TEcX69Xj">Aggies</a>, and its athletes compete in eighteen varsity sports as a member of the <a href="/facts/Southeastern_Conference/kNJFJC2e">Southeastern Conference</a>.

Texas A&M University open-in-new

Texas A&M University