OSU Extension: A Brief History The Cooperative Extension Service
system got its start in 1862 when Congress passed the Morrill
Act, which provided for a university in each state to provide
education to citizens in agricultural and mechanical fields.
These colleges are known today as "land-grant universities." The
Ohio State University is Ohio's land-grant university. Congress
soon realized that to be effective, the educational function of
land-grant universities needed to be supplemented with research
capabilities. The Hatch Act was passed in 1887 to establish
research farms where universities could conduct research into
agricultural, mechanical, and related problems faced by rural
citizens. Congress passed the Smith-Lever Act in 1914 to
establish the Cooperative Extension Service. Some milestones for
Ohio State University Extension: Ohio State School of
Agriculture students organize the Agricultural Students Union
with the goal of getting the latest agricultural information
from the college and experiment st