Michigan State University (MSU) is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. MSU was founded in 1855, then became the nation's first land-grant institution under the Morrill Act of 1862, serving as a model for future land-grant universities. The university was founded as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, one of the country's first institutions of higher education to teach scientific agriculture. After the introduction of the Morrill Act, the college became coeducational and expanded its curriculum beyond agriculture. Today, MSU is the ninth-largest university in the United States (in terms of enrollment) and has approximately 540,000 living alumni worldwide.