Throughout the duration of World War II, the college provided customized pre-employment training and job upgrading-retraining.
After the war, the college became a state-funded vocational school with the mission of assisting industry in converting from a war-time to a peace-time economy.
For the next five years, the basis of the specialized College was laid with its emphasis on open-entry, open-exit, and continuous progress instruction based on achievement of measurable competencies.
The original three buildings have been remodeled and expanded, 10 new structures have been built, four portables have been added, and the college has acquired numerous off-campus facilities.
As part of this change, governance was shifted to the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges and authorization was given to grant two year, sub-baccalaureate degrees and certificates of completion.