North Dakota State University

North Dakota State University

Former names	North Dakota Agricultural College (1890-1960)
Type	Public Land-grant Flagship university
Established	1890
Endowment	$138 million
President	Dean L. Bresciani
Provost	Beth Ingram
Academic staff	893
Administrative staff	1,638
Students	14,432
Location	Fargo, North Dakota, U.S. 46°53′30″N 96°48′00″W / 46.8917°N 96.8000°W / 46.8917; -96.8000Coordinates: 46°53′30″N 96°48′00″W / 46.8917°N 96.8000°W / 46.8917; -96.8000
Campus	Urban – Fargo Campus: 258 acres (1.0 km²)
Colors	Yellow and Green
Athletics	NCAA Division I Summit League Missouri Valley Football Conference Big 12 (wrestling only)
Nickname	Bison ("Thundering Herd")
Mascot	Thundar
Affiliations	North Dakota University System APLU
Website	www.ndsu.edu

North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences, more commonly known as North Dakota State University (NDSU), is a public research university that sits on a 258-acre campus (~1 km²) in Fargo, North Dakota, U.S. The institution was founded as North Dakota Agricultural College in 1890 as the research land-grant institution for the state of North Dakota. NDSU is a comprehensive doctoral research university with programs involved in very high research activity. NDSU offers 102 undergraduate majors, 170 undergraduate degree programs, 6 undergraduate certificate programs, 79 undergraduate minors, 81 master’s degree programs, 47 doctoral degree programs of study and 10 graduate certificate programs. There were 14,516 students attending NDSU from 47 different states and 79 different countries as of 2015.

The university also operates the state agricultural research extension centers spread across the state on over 18,488 acres (75 km²). NDSU is part of the North Dakota University System. It is one of the largest universities in the State of North Dakota. In 2015, NDSU's economic impact on the state and region was estimated to be $1.3 billion a year according to the NDUS Systemwide Economic Study by the School of Economics at North Dakota State University. It was the fifth-largest employer in the state of North Dakota.

The bill founding North Dakota Agricultural College (NDAC) was signed on March 8, 1890, seven years after initial plans to start an agricultural college in the northern portion of the Dakota Territory. NDAC was established as a land-grant university.

On October 15, 1890, Horace E. Stockbridge became the first NDAC president and the Board of Trustees was formed. Classes were initially held in six classrooms rented from Fargo College. A provisional course was held on January 6, 1891, and the first regular class of students was admitted on September 8, 1891. College Hall (Old Main), completed in 1892, was the first building and consisted of offices, classrooms, and a library to serve the four NDAC students.

In 1908, the school's alma mater "The Yellow and The Green" was written and a year later the school’s official colors, Yellow and Green, were selected. In 2015 a change was made where only the first verse of the alma mater is recognized by the university.