students, but had to accommodate about 3000. In 1938, students rallied for a new campus with non-wooden buildings, due to fears from the city's earthquake and fire in 1906. By 1939, land near Lake Merced had been acquired to build a new campus, but plans were paused due to World War II. Many students took part in the war, causing enrollment to decline.

During the 1920s and '30s, State Teachers Colleges expanded beyond being only vocational schools