All graduate courses offered for major or nonmajor credit are taught by graduate faculty members or graduate lecturers. Graduate study was offered soon after the university was founded, and the first graduate degree was conferred in 1877. Experimentation and research also started early, first in agriculture and shortly thereafter in home economics, engineering, science, and veterinary medicine. In 1913, the graduate faculty was organized formally and an executive graduate committee was appointed. In 1915, the graduate faculty held its first meeting, and in 1916, it granted the first doctor of philosophy degree.
Graduate education is vital to the quality of university teaching.
The creative efforts of graduate faculty members and graduate students result in knowledge necessary to help society solve problems in educational, scientific, technological, and socio-economic areas. The Graduate College encourages educational exchange and contact with undergraduate areas of the university to promote improved teaching on both the undergraduate and graduate levels. A part of this exchange is accomplished by the publication of books and technical articles which are made possible by graduate research. The degrees master of arts, master of science, and doctor of philosophy are research oriented. In many fields master s degrees are also awarded without a thesis, but a written report of independent study, called a creative component, is generally required.