Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts

Iowa State University
of Science and Technology

Former names	Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm (1858–1898) Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (1898–1959)
Motto	Science with practice
Type	Public Flagship Land-grant Space-grant
Established	1858
Academic affiliations	Association of American Universities, Universities Research Association
Endowment	$760.5 million (2016)
President	Wendy Wintersteen
Academic staff	1,845 (2016)
Students	36,321 (fall 2017)
Undergraduates	30,406 (Fall 2017)
Postgraduates	4,991 (Fall 2017)
Other students	596 (Fall 2017)
Location	Ames, Iowa, U.S.
Campus	Urban, 1,984 acres (8.0 km2)
Colors	Cardinal & Gold
Nickname	Cyclones
Sporting affiliations	NCAA Division I – Big 12
Mascot	Cy
Website	www.iastate.edu

Iowa State University of Science and Technology, generally referred to as Iowa State, is a public flagshipland-grant and space-grant research university located in Ames, Iowa, United States. It is the largest university in the state of Iowa and the 3rd largest university in the Big 12 athletic conference. Iowa State is classified as a Research University with very high research activity (RU/VH) by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Iowa State is also a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), which consists of 62 leading research universities in North America.

Founded in 1858 and coeducational from its start, Iowa State became the nation’s first designated land-grant institution when the Iowa Legislature accepted the provisions of the 1862 Morrill Act on September 11, 1862, making Iowa the first state in the nation to do so.

Iowa State's academic offerings are administered today through eight colleges, including the graduate college, that offer over 100 bachelor's degree programs, 112 master's degree programs, and 83 at the Ph.D. level, plus a professional degree program in Veterinary Medicine.

Iowa State University's athletic teams, the Cyclones, compete in Division I of the NCAA and are a founding member of the Big 12 Conference. The Cyclones field 16 varsity teams and have won numerous NCAA national championships.

In 1856, the Iowa General Assembly enacted legislation to establish the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm. This institution (now Iowa State University) was officially established on March 22, 1858, by the General Assembly. Story County was chosen as the location on June 21, 1859, beating proposals from Johnson, Kossuth, Marshall and Polk counties. The original farm of 648 acres (2.62 km²) was purchased for a cost of $5,379.