In 1955 the school appointed Millard G. Roberts as its president and this began a period of rapid expansion with the student population rising as high as 5,000 by 1966.

Although they regained their accreditation in the spring of 1970, enrollment had quickly declined and the college floundered with $14 million in debt and closed under bankruptcy in 1973.

His sons, the executors of Parsons' estate, considered a number of possible locations for the school and 20 years later[1] chose a tract of land just north of Fairfield.

[2] The residents of Fairfield promised $27,516 towards the college, and its committee paid W. H. Jordan $13,000 for Henn Mansion building and 20 acres of land.

[1] The college opened in 1875 with 34 students who attended classes in the brick home called "the Mansion" that was built in 1857 by Congressman Bernhart Henn.

A $7,000 chapel building was erected in 1876,[1] and John Armstrong succeeded Wilson and assumed the title of college president, until August 12, 1879, when he died suddenly.

[citation needed] In 1896 Daniel E. Jenkins became college president at the age of 30 and was the youngest of the 16 who held the title during the school's 98-year history.

[1] In 1908, college trustee Theodore Wells Barhydt donated $33,000 for a chapel, which was built in Norman Gothic style and designed by Holsman.

[1] The Trustee Gymnasium opened in 1910[2] and later an extension to the chapel called the Bible Building and later renamed Parsons Hall.

[2] In 1955, the trustees appointed a Presbyterian minister from New York City, Millard G. Roberts, as president of the 357-student college.

Features included: Among Roberts's innovations was the establishment of the trimester system, which made possible year-round use of the facility and allowed students to reduce the time needed to obtain a degree.

[2] In 1966 Life magazine published an article criticizing Roberts and the college, calling him "The Wizard of Flunk Out U".

[4] The school's enrollment plunged from 5,000 to 1,500, and though accreditation was regained in the spring of that year, the upheaval of the late 1960s had fatally undermined its reputation.