In 1862, Congress passed the Land Grant College Act (also known as the First Morrill Act) to provide funding for institutions of higher learning in each state. For every Congressional representative within a state, the Federal government provided 30,000 acres of land to be sold and used as an endowment for at least one college offering training in agriculture, home economics, mechanical studies, and other professional trades. Some of the early land-grant institutions include Iowa State University, Kansas State, Rutgers, and the Universities of Vermont, Minnesota, Missouri, Kentucky, and Wisconsin. In 1890, the Second Morrill Act was passed to include historically black universities in the land-grant system. At this time, the southern states that did not already have a black college established one. Since their inception, Land Grant colleges have broadened the opportunities for higher education to people across the United States.
GI Bill of Rights, 1944
Officially known as the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, the GI Bill was signed by President Roosevelt to broaden the opportunities of returning World War II veterans. In addition to helping purchase homes and businesses, and cover the cost of hospitalizations, the bill provided tuition, living expenses, books, and supplies to veterans to continue their education in school or college. Within 7 years, nearly 8 million veterans received educational benefits. The GI Bill opened the doors of higher education to an older and more diverse population than this country had ever seen. In the coming century, through the current GI Bill, need-based scholarships, financial aid, new tax credits, work-study, and GEAR UP, we can make college as universal as high school is today. For more information about financial aid, call 1-800-4FED-AID, or visit the College Is Possible Web site at http://www.CollegeIsPossible.org.
Brown v. Board of Education, 1954
In the 1954 case Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court deemed the "separate but equal" approach to education unconstitutional, and schools districts were ordered to run a single school system for all students, regardless of color. With the supervision of the Federal government in many cases, states desegregated the schools, and African-American children joined their peers in classrooms across America.
Special Education, 1975
The first Federal law that addressed the issue of special education was passed in 1958 under the Education of Mentally Retarded Children Act. This provided training funds for teachers to learn to work with children considered mentally retarded. It was not until 1975, however, that the Education for All Handicapped Children Act was passed, ensuring a free, appropriate education for students with disabilities, and acknowledging that all children should have access to school.
The act has been revised and amended several times since 1975, with the latest revision in 1997, and is now known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). For more information on these latest regulations, visit the IDEA Web site.
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