
A Brief History of Iowa State University
You can trace the history of Iowa State University back to 1858, when it was chartered as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, the first of many names for this storied institution. With the help of the Morrill Act of 1862, it became a land-grant institution before officially beginning classes in 1869. By 1898, its name was changed to the Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts before taking its current name of Iowa State University as we all know it today.