In 1961, reflecting that the curriculum had expanded into new areas of study in addition to teacher education, the school's name was changed to Central Washington State College.

The residential campus location has multiple residence halls, surrounding the Student Union and Recreation Center, and clustered in four different areas.

[13] Examples have included studying soil carbon respiration, offering K-12 education programs, and piloting dryland winter wheat production.

In addition, PANGA GPS measurements are used to monitor man-made structures such as Seattle's sagging Alaskan Way Viaduct (demolished in 2019), the 520 and I-90 floating bridges, and power-generation / drinking-supply dams throughout the Cascadia subduction zone, including the mega-dams along the Columbia River.

[citation needed] The program focuses on non-invasive, observational research with nonhuman primates in field and captive settings.

The program also offers the only Captive Primate Care Certificate in the United States and is affiliated with Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest.

Faculty and students study across the entire primate order, collaborating with scientists and conducting research at sites around the world.

Recent published work includes the impact of COVID-19 on mammals at tourism sites,[15] the behavior of Tibetan macaques at the Valley of the Wild Monkeys in China,[16] and the social networks of chimpanzees.