Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public land-grant research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of Fall 2021, Texas A&M's student body is the largest in the United States. Texas A&M is the only university in Texas to hold simultaneous designations as a land, sea, and space grant institution. In 2001, Texas A&M was inducted as a member of the Association of American Universities. The school's students, alumni and sports teams are known as Aggies. The Texas A&M Aggies athletes compete in eighteen varsity sports as a member of the Southeastern Conference.