Texas A&M University Travel Guide

Texas A&M University is a land-grant, sea-grant and space-grant institution located in College Station, Texas. The university is centrally located, approximately equidistant from three of the 10 largest cities in the United States (Houston, Dallas and San Antonio) and the state capitol (Austin). The university’s enrollment includes approximately 44,000 students studying for degrees in 10 academic colleges.

Texas A&M University is dedicated to the discovery, development, communication, and application of knowledge in a wide range of academic and professional fields. Its mission of providing the highest quality undergraduate and graduate programs is inseparable from its mission of developing new understandings through research and creativity. It prepares students to assume roles of leadership, responsibility, and service to society. Texas A&M assumes as its historic trust the maintenance of freedom of inquiry and an intellectual environment nurturing the human mind and spirit. It welcomes and seeks to serve persons of all racial, ethnic, and geographic groups, women and men alike, as it addresses the needs of an increasingly diverse population and a global economy. In the twenty-first century, Texas A&M University seeks to assume a place of preeminence among public universities while respecting its history and traditions.

Texas A&M, the state’s first public institution of higher education, was opened on Oct. 4, 1876 as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas. The school owes its origin to the Morrill Act of 1862, which established the nation’s land-grant college system.

In 1963, the name of the institution was changed to Texas A&M University to more accurately reflect its expanding role as a leader in teaching, research, and public service for the state, nation and world. The initials "A" and "M" are a link to the university’s past; they no longer represent any specific words as the school’s curriculum has grown to include not only agriculture and engineering, but architecture, business, education, geosciences, liberal arts, medicine, science, and veterinary medicine.

What does it mean to be a Texas Aggie? Since its beginning in 1876, Texas A&M has developed a rich heritage of traditions that have helped to develop character, leadership, unity, and public service in all its graduates. By experiencing these honored traditions you can begin to understand what is truly meant by "the Spirit of Aggieland."