SEA GRANT COLLEGES 57 



THE GOVERNMENT LOOKS AT THE SEA-GRANT COLLEGE CONCEPT 



Harve J. Carlson, D.P.H., University of Michigan. 1943. Since 1961, 

 he has been the Division Director for Biological and Medical Science, 

 National Science Foundation, Washington, D.C. A former educator and 

 scientist in the Office of Naval Research, he serves as the NSF repre- 

 sentative on the Interagency Committee on Oceanography of the Fed- 

 eral Council for Science and Technology, 



We have had the pleasure this morning of listening to several speakers de- 

 scribing the advantages to be accrued to the oceanographic community and to our 

 entire nation by the introduction of sea-grant colleges which, in certain respects, 

 may be considered parallel to land-grant colleges established nearly a hundred 

 years ago. 



To get a complete picture of the situation, it is first of all mandatory to 

 understand the functions of a land-grant college. In the existing land-grant col- 

 lege system, proceeds from the sale of public lands are paid to the states and 

 are used for establishing and maintaining agricultural and mechanical arts col- 

 leges. Most of these colleges have agricultural and engineering experiment sta- 

 tions affiliated with them, thus providing the ideal conditions for a pragmatic 

 education based on research. 



Owing largely to the legislative foresight of the Congress, today's land- 

 grant colleges are leaders in the field of applied science education. To better 

 understand some of the other speakers' proposals, we must realize that most, if 

 not all, of the existing land- grant colleges have over the years broadened their 

 horizons to include other disciplines. For instance, in addition to the agricul- 

 tural and mechanical sciences, other more basic educational fields are included 

 in the curriculum. 



Funds for land- grant colleges are budgeted by the Department of Agricul- 

 ture and are distributed partly by equal allocation and partly according to a for- 

 mula. The formula consists of a ratio of a given state's rural population to the 

 total population of the state. Most land- grant universities today are, however, 

 autonomous state institutions. Though they receive funds for basic education 

 through the Office of Education and through research grants or contracts spon- 

 sored by certain federal agencies, it would be erroneous to imply that the federal 

 government exercises any material degree of control over them. 



Until 1935, federal grants for the A & M colleges were distributed equally, 

 with each state receiving about $90,000 per year. The state-to-federal ratio has 

 now risen to the point where the state contributes about three times as much as 

 the federal government. Although some individuals believe that this rather un- 

 usual ratio reflects state fears of increasing federal control over local research, 

 others who view the situation more objectively are convinced that it reflects 

 healthy pressures on state legislators by the urban and rural population through 

 experiment station councils and others. (This we might also note carefully, 

 since the oceanographic community has never been shy about expressing its 

 needs). Both sides, however, are convinced that the existing federal-state rela- 

 tionship is extremely effective. I believe that the oceanographic community of 

 the United States has a great deal to learn from this system, both pro and con. 



Whereas the scientific community can and should look at the sea -grant uni- 

 versity proposal from a conceptual point of view, the federal government, which 

 would be at least initially saddled with the responsibility for sponsorship, must 

 examine this whole problem in a more pragmatic way to determine the devices 

 available to the federal government for implementing the concept of the sea- 

 grant university. 



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