Colorado State University is a land-grant institution and a Carnegie Research University (very high research activity). CSU was founded as the Colorado Agricultural College in 1870, six years before the Colorado Territory gained statehood. It was one of 68 land-grant colleges established under the Morrill Act of 1862. The doors opened to a freshman class of 20 students in 1879. In 1935, the school became the Colorado State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, or Colorado A&M, and was renamed Colorado State University in 1957. CSU has very strong programs on global sustainability and the environment, natural resources, infectious diseases, water resources, and green technologies.