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Main building and Cadet Corps of Agricultural and Mechanical College, 1916 The history of Texas A&M University , the first public institution of higher education in Texas , began in 1871, when the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas was established as a land-grant college by the Texas Legislature . Classes began on October 4, 1876. Although Texas A&M was originally scheduled to be established under the Texas Constitution as a branch of the yet-to-be-created University of Texas , subsequent acts of the Texas Legislature never gave the university any authority over Texas A&M. In 1875, the Legislature separated the administrations of A&M and the University of Texas, which still existed only on paper. For much of its first century, enrollment at Texas A&M was restricted to white men who were willing to participate in the Corps of Cadets and receive military training . During this time, a limited number of women were allowed to attend classe