to its current configuration of kindergarten through sixth grade.
In 1919 the school was renamed Northwest Missouri State Teacher's College, and with that came the ability to grant baccalaureate degrees. In 1949 the name was shrunk to Northwest Missouri State College by the Board of Regents.
=== World War II ===
During World War II, Northwest Missouri State University was one of 131 colleges and universities nationally that took part in the V-12 Navy College Training Program, which offered students a path to a Navy commission.
=== Rivalry with Missouri Western ===
In 1969, Missouri governor Warren Hearnes pushed for switching St. Joseph Junior College from a two-year school into a four-year state college, which became Missouri Western State University. At approximately the same time, authorities decided against a plan to continue routing Interstate 29 north of St. Joseph alongside U.S. Route 71 through Maryville and on to Clarinda, Iowa, instead picking a route to the Omaha–Council Bluffs metropolitan area …
