Higher education access prior to 1862 was limited to affluent white males in certain regions of the country. Education was for the elite and not the working class
Who did not have access?
Enslaved individuals, Minority groups, people of color and women had little to no access to higher education.
Morrill timeline...
1857 - introduction of the land-grant concept
1859 - congressional approval
vetoed by President James Buchanan
1862 - during the Civil War, the land-grant proposal was resubmitted, with a focus on engineering and military sciences in languages, skills need to sustain a soldier's livelihood