Mizzou is a land-grant university, meaning it is a part of a federally mandated mission to carry the benefits of university research beyond campus. Federal legislation in the 1800s provided for the donation of public land to individual states. Missourians chose to apply their land grants to the existing Columbia campus. This created two universities in one — a land-grant institution leading in research for all citizens of the state, across the nation and around the world, and an intellectual center to advance liberal arts scholarship. Today, through MU Extension statewide offices, publications and Web-based services, extension faculty in every county of Missouri continue to carry the benefits of MU research throughout the entire state.