land-grant vs. land grant

The Morrill Act of 1862 established the nation’s land-grant university system by authorizing federal land grants to states to help create colleges that would teach “agriculture and the mechanic arts” to the “industrial classes.” A second Morrill Act in 1890 extended land-grant status to additional institutions, including many historically Black colleges and universities.

Use the hyphenated, lowercase adjective “land-grant” when describing universities, institutions or missions (e.g., land-grant university, land-grant tradition). Use the open form “land grant” as a noun (e.g., the state received a land grant).