Amid the tumult, the Agricultural College grew modestly, adding its statewide Extension program in 1914.[38] A year later, the first master's degrees were awarded.[39] UAC, as the Utah Agricultural College was commonly abbreviated, also received a notable boost in students as a direct result of World War I.[40] Colleges and universities nationwide were temporarily transformed into training grounds for the short-lived Student Army Training Corps, composed of students who received military instruction and could then return to their educations following their military service.[41] As the then-tiny campus could not otherwise support such large numbers of new students, college president Elmer Peterson convinced the state in 1918 to appropriate funds for permanent brick buildings, which could be used as barracks for SATC students during the war, and instruction afterward.[42] Though the war was soon to end, the campus essentially doubled in size.[43]