The Division of Military Science and Technology in the Purdue Polytechnic Institute was approved by the Purdue University Board of Trustees July 18, 2014; however, the catalyst of the Polytechnic’s Division of Military Science and Technology dates back to 1869. That is the year local business investor John Purdue donated $150,000 to fulfill Indiana’s participation in the Morrill Land-Grant Act. The legislation enabled the establishment of a college, “without excluding other scientific and classical studies and including military tactic, to teach…agriculture and the mechanic arts…to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions in life.”
Today, the three Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) programs on campus – Air Force ROTC, Army ROTC and Naval ROTC – continue to fulfill the Land-Grant Promise as they train students to become officers in the U.S. armed forces.