Texas A&M was established as a land grant school in 1876. Perhaps, in keeping with this idea of the land grant ethic and agricultural studies, sociological studies at Texas A&M were first developed within the College of Agriculture. The first sociology course was offered in the 1918-1919 academic year. In 1920, the Department of Rural Social Science was created that incorporated both sociology and agricultural economics. The Sociology and Anthropology department was created in 1969 and left the College of Agriculture to become part of the College of Liberal Arts. During this time, the Department of Rural Sociology also existed. (And, in fact, the Department of Rural Sociology persevered until the 2000’s and then was absorbed into the department of Recreation, Parks and Tourism Science.) The first MS was awarded in 1925 and the first PhD in 1972.