The law gave generous deeds of public land to states that created schools with programs in engineering and scientific agriculture.

[15] The school was founded under the auspices of the University of Missouri in Columbia in order to take advantage of the Morrill Land-Grant Acts to "teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts, in such manner as the legislatures of the States may respectively prescribe, in order to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions in life.

[33] Three individuals: James Abert, George D. Emerson, and Robert W. Douthat served in the American Civil War and as faculty.

[37] The 1941–42 administration, including Curtis Laws Wilson, instead encouraged the student body to finish their training as that would make them more useful to the military.

A year later, MSM was upgraded to an autonomous standalone campus as the University of Missouri at Rolla and its presiding officer, like that of its sister schools, was granted the title of chancellor.

[39] In making the case for changing the name, then Chancellor John F. Carney III noted that Rolla in 2007 was "one of the few technological research universities in the nation.

This branch-campus designation hinders many of our efforts to achieve national recognition and a strong reputation as a technological research university.

The gift also will establish a new college of innovation and entrepreneurship at Missouri S&T, develop new areas for research, provide scholarships and fellowships for students, and bolster the Rolla region's economy.

[42] Originally a dormitory building, Altman Hall now houses student and university organizations including the KMNR radio station, the Missouri Miner student newspaper, the Rollamo yearbook, the SPECTRUM campus organization in support of sexual orientations and gender identities, and a ResLife residential life downtown campus office.

The basement of the library is home to several campus organizations, including: Farrar Hall served for decades as a dormitory building and was used as quarantine housing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Harris Hall opened in 1940 after Director William Chedsey was able to secure $80,000 from the Works Progress Administration and $50,000 in state funding.

The theatre was opened in 1991 and hosts approximately 100 events each academic year, including touring performances of groups such as the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, the Russian National Ballet, Stomp, as well as off-Broadway shows such as Cats, Evita, and 42nd Street.

The university developed a new way to make deep cuts in granite and worked with artist Edwina Sandys who used the method to create the Millennium Arch sculpture.

The work, which is located on 10th Street facing Castleman Hall, was developed as a project of the High Pressure Waterjet Laboratory of the Rock Mechanics & Explosive Research Center at Missouri S&T.Missouri S&T Stonehenge is a partial reconstruction of the original Stonehenge monument located on Salisbury Plain, in southern England.

Missouri S&T's version of the ancient structure is located on the northwest corner of campus, and was dedicated on June 20, 1984, during the summer solstice.

The cutter moved at a speed of about 10 feet per minute (50 mm/s) and cut between one-quarter and one-half inch (6 and 13 mm) on each pass.

[61] The school operates the 200 kW Missouri S&T nuclear reactor on-campus for educational, training, and research purposes.

Reconstruction of the area around the Puck began in late 2020 to renovate the landmark in honor of former Chancellor John F. "Jack" Carney III.

[75] In 2012, the Solar Village was one of two highlights in a video short that won recognition from Second Nature and a Climate Leadership Award for the campus.

The building, which honors Martin E. Straumanis and William "Bill" James, includes about 30,000 square feet of laboratory and office space.

[83] Approximately twelve hundred university students support twenty design teams at the SDELC,[84][85] and have 24/7 access to the building.

[87] The Kummer Design Center is also home to American Pie Company and Spoon Me (frozen yogurt) fast food restaurants.

[91] The expansion's highest-level donors were Richard and Nancy Arnold, Brinkmann Constructors, Roger and Karen LaBoube, and Fred and June Kummer.

[91] At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, students and staff used the design center to make PPE for Phelps Health and other surrounding medical facilities.

The center's expanded mission involved better funding and offering support and resources to multi-disciplinary project teams that had a research base to their activities.

The center also offers a half-credit course on experiential design through the Residential College (RC) program which has a per-semester enrollment of over 100 students engaged in hands-on learning projects.

The university is a member of the Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) for most of its sports since the 2005–06 academic year; while its men's swimming team competes in the New South Intercollegiate Swim Conference (NSISC).

Club sports associated with Missouri S&T include ultimate frisbee,[151] lacrosse, rugby union, roller hockey, trap and skeet,[152] tennis, baseball,[153] and water polo.

[158] After a one-school-year break for many reasons including a funding cut, The Missouri Miner continued publication in the fall semester of 2009.

[173] A bronze statue of St. Patrick, by St. Louis sculptor Rudolph Edward Torrini, is located on the Wilson Library Plaza.