A legislative appropriation of $25,000 – along with an additional pledge of $25,000, plus funds raised through public subscription and private donation – was used for the construction of the Main Building on 200 acres of in Centre County, near the geographic center of the state.

Pugh had received his Ph.D. from the University of Goettingen in 1854, and his vision for the Farmers’ High School included an expansion beyond agriculture into fields that would be of benefit to the nation as a whole.

Pugh realized that on-the-job training (the most common form of learning a profession), combined with the nation's economic and geographic growth, would not adequately meet the demand for educated professionals familiar with the “mechanic arts.

[10] Pugh was instrumental in securing the school as the sole recipient of all land-grant revenues in 1863, although his untimely death from typhoid in April 1864 resulted in his vision of industrial education being delayed by several decades.

The lobbying efforts (and resulting redistribution bill) were defeated in 1865 but left the university in such a dire state financially that mortgage bonds of $80,000 were issued, both to pay off debt and to establish a working fund.

The first true champion of the mechanic arts at Penn State was John Fraser, appointed as a professor of mathematics in 1865 and as president of the university in 1866 after Allen's resignation.

[14] Fraser aimed to expand upon Pugh's vision, and the first four courses added for the 1868–69 academic year were general science, literature, mechanical and civil engineering, and metallurgy, mineralogy, and mining.

The falling enrollment numbers of the time – 145 students in 1864–65, 114 in 1866, 82 in 1867, and 30 in 1868, with no class graduating in 1867 – led to a cautious approach to the expansion of the curriculum: the catalogue for the 1868–69 academic year listed mechanical and civil engineering, but the trustees did not hire faculty to provide instruction.

[14] Fraser was succeeded by Thomas H. Burrowes, who felt that the intentions of the Morrill Act would be best served by the original setup of the farmers’ high school.

[17] It was felt that, as the school was an instrument of the commonwealth, it should be supported via regular state appropriations; however, critique for curriculum reform was often received from Harrisburg, but not the money necessary to enact it.

[17] The financial burden from Allen's administration continued, and Burrowes died of exposure (as a consequence of a mountain outing with students) in February 1871 without seeing his three-course format implemented.

Calder eliminated Burrowes’ proposed three-course system and reinstated the four-year curriculum and felt that the Morrill Act envisioned more than simply formal instruction in agriculture, reincorporating several elements of orthodox classical institutions.

[18] The university began to offer non-agricultural baccalaureate degrees, and adopted the name Pennsylvania State College in 1874 to reflect the broadened curriculum.

[19] Routine field demonstrations of various farm implements began to be incorporated into the curriculum, and civil engineering coursework was offered only at a high level; labs and practicums were nonexistent, as the “applications of knowledge” available at local businesses (e.g. textile factories, gas and water works, and coal mines) were felt to be sufficient.

[19] Meanwhile, colleges and universities across the nation with dedicated engineering departments rose to 70 by 1872 – more than half of which were land-grant endowments – and Penn State continued to lag due to the insistence on imitating classical institutions.

[20] The receipts from sale of land scrip were converted to an interest-bearing bond in 1872, leading to (among other things) the abolishing of tuition in 1874: students were instead charged a flat $20 annual fee for fuel, lighting, and janitorial service.

[20] Joseph Shortlidge succeeded Calder in 1880, and his first act was to offend trustees, faculty, students, and the general public with his address at the commencement exercises in July 1880.

[22] The very existence of Osmond's “committee” demonstrated how strained relations between the president and faculty had become,[22] and Shortlidge presented his resignation in 1881 “couched in terms so offensive […] that the [trustees] accepted it forthwith.

The proposed curriculum would include six courses of study: two “general” (scientific and classical holdovers from Calder), four “technical” (agricultural, natural history, chemistry, physics, and civil engineering), and practicums in the mechanic arts.

[22] So confident were the trustees in Osmond's recommendations, and McKee's acceptance of them, that they asked the General Assembly to investigate the affairs of the college, calculating that the probe would vindicate the reorganization efforts and attract more students.

[31] The creation of the mechanical engineering curriculum segregated students into “general” and “technical” paths (not entirely dissimilar to modern-day general education and major-specific instruction requirements), and the curriculum featured what is now considered “typical” coursework in science and mathematics, as well as several practicums (one for each of the fall, winter, and spring terms) to develop skills such as drawing, pattern making, surveying, chemistry, mechanics, forging, and machine construction.

[35] Additional machinery, including Allis-Chalmers triple-expansion steam engine (extensively modified for laboratory instruction and experimentation), was purchased and installed.

[42] Atherton remained convinced that the college should increase instruction in liberal studies for all students, to become “[men] of broad culture and good citizen[s].

These organizations encourage professional development, networking, recognition for outstanding academic achievement, and the opportunity to apply theoretical instruction to practical problems.

[203] Inyong Ham, a Penn State professor (1958–95) and an IIE Fellow, was known for his development of group technology and research on the use of computers in manufacturing and process planning.