North Carolina State University (also known as NC State or NCSU) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 by the North Carolina General Assembly as an agricultural and mechanical college, it is the largest university in the Carolinas and a constituent institution of the University of North Carolina system. Though rooted in its founding land-grant mandate, NC State has grown into a comprehensive university offering degrees in over a hundred fields of study. It maintains historic strengths in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), as well as agriculture. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity".