A Young Cal Poly

This very old Fitzhugh photograph of Cal Poly probably dates back to 1915 or 1916

Cal Poly at War

Starting in 1940 Cal Poly implemented a war preparedness program leaning heavily into industrial arts for both men and women.

In 1942 Cal Poly started awarding Bachelor degrees.

In 1943 The school served as state headquarters for the Food Production War Training Program, providing instruction to more than 120,000 farmers.

A U.S. Naval Flight Preparatory School on campus trains over 3500 cadets. By now civilian enrollment had fallen to fifty students.

In 1945, just after the war, enrollment expanded to 819 students, mostly veterans. By 1949 there are 2909 students enrolled. Today there are just under 17000 students.