Most State Schools were started as State Normal, Teachers or Agricultural schools with money coming from the different States for some form of higher Education for those that could not afford an upper education!
Most of these were dropped in transistion as Women were added to the ranks of students. Yes it goes back that far!
For example my College, Pittsburg Normal College, became Pittsburg State Teachers College, which is now Pittsburg State U.
My self, I would have rather been know as SE Kansas U. But what the hell is a Gorilla doing as a mascot in SE Ks!
PSU, get any ideas of what that might sound like!