Michigan Tech was founded in 1885 as the Michigan Mining School. Established by the state of Michigan to train mining engineers to operate the local copper mines, the school started with four faculty members and twenty-three students. A few years after the school's creation, enrollment grew to such a point that its name no longer reflected its purpose. The name was then changed to the Michigan College of Mines. This name lasted through World War I until 1925, but by this time the school had begun offering a wider variety of degrees and once again decided to change its name to the Michigan College of Mining and Technology. By 1931 enrollment had reached nearly 600. During the next few years, due to the Great Depression, money was scarce, causing department heads and even the president of the university, William Hotchkiss, to take pay cuts. Around 1948, enrollment passed 2000 students total. In 1956, J. Robert Van Pelt became the new president of the university and restarted many PhD programs and created a focus on research. In the final years of his presidency, the school changed from a college to a university, changing its name a final time to Michigan Technological University. The name Michigan Technological University was chosen in order to retain the nickname of Michigan Tech that had already been in use since 1927.