§305 Conditions of grant

Summary

States that accept the land and land-scrip grant must follow these rules. If any of the invested fund or its interest is lost, the State must replace it so the fund's capital stays forever whole. The yearly interest must be used only for the purposes named in section 304, except that up to 10 percent of what a State receives may be spent to buy land for sites or experimental farms if the State legislature allows it. No part of the fund or its interest may be used, in any way, to buy, build, keep, or repair buildings. A State must set up at least one college as described in section 304 within five years after it formally accepts the grant, or the grant ends and the State must repay money received for any lands sold (buyers’ land titles remain valid). Each college must send an annual report on progress, experiments, costs, and useful state industrial or economic facts to the other colleges and to the Secretary of the Interior. If land chosen comes from tracts raised to double the minimum price because of railroad grants, the land is counted at the maximum price and the acreage is reduced accordingly. States in active rebellion against the U.S. cannot get these benefits. A State had to accept within three years from July 23, 1866; a Territory that becomes a State must accept within three years of admission and provide its college(s) within five years after acceptance.