High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! 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 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.