Land grant and sea grant: Implications and limitations of the model

Abstract

Abstract The National Sea Grant College Program was created by Congress in 1966 to assist the development of marine resources through science and technology as well as through education, research, and advisory services. The structure of the program resulted from the explicit effort of early Sea Grant supporters to forge the system as an oceans equivalent of Land Grant colleges. This discussion provides a brief history of the creation of Sea Grant based on the Land Grant analogy; it compares the size, scope, and major concerns of the two systems, including criticisms of the Land Grant program and their relevance to Sea Grant; and it suggests way in which Sea Grant might avoid some of the conditions which led to these criticisms of the Land Grant network.