The company Scottish Agricultural Colleges was established in 1987 to provide direct management of advisory and veterinary functions of the regional colleges. In 1990, the West of Scotland Agricultural College was merged with the East of Scotland College of Agriculture and the North of Scotland College of Agriculture into the Scottish Agricultural College, a single higher education and research institution specialising in agriculture. The institution's three main divisions offered research, education and consultancy.Archives of Scottish Higher Education, accessed 23 March 2012. The new specialist institution was one of the largest of its type in Europe and the largest in the UK. The institution offered undergraduate and postgraduate programmes from its three campuses in Ayr, Aberdeen and Edinburgh, as well as training and online study on topics including the environment, business, leisure, agriculture, horticulture and science.
