During the three years following the sudden demise of Kent State University Canton in 1950, Kent State provided Canton with a series of self supporting, evening extension courses. These classes were held in several classrooms at McKinley High School, and drew a steady, but relatively small, number of students. By 1953, however, a growing demand for elementary school teachers throughout Ohio led to a dramatic boost for Kent State's Stark County program. During the last year of WWII, the State of Ohio tried to put teachers into the classroom more quickly by creating the Emergency Cadet Teacher Program. As a result of this program, the state could issue "Cadet" teaching certificates to students who had completed an intensive two-year curriculum consisting of education classes, "regular" college courses, and a semester of field experience. Although the Cadet certificate had to be renewed after four years, it gave the recipients an opportunity to actually start teaching while they finished the balance of their bachelor's degree requirements. By 1956, the Canton Teacher Education Program was actively drawing "housewives . . .mature men and women . . .and young people recently out of high school" into a slightly altered--but rapidly growing-- three-year version of Kent's Cadet program.

In 1957, with the Teacher Education Program in full swing, the Canton Chamber of Commerce conducted a survey that asked whether or not the community would support an expanded Kent State program in the Colleges of Arts and Sciences and Business Administration. The affirmative response led to the creation of a Part-time Evening Program that offered a variety freshman-level university courses in addition to those required for the Cadet teaching certificate. Although still primarily aimed at "employed adults and homemakers," this expanded set of course offerings also attracted the attention of the area's recent high school graduates. The resulting surge in enrollment propelled the once modest extension program into a more permanent Academic Center status. The Canton Center soon had a director, staff, and regular faculty drawn from the ranks of Kent State's full-time professors and local Stark County educators. By 1959, the operation had outgrown the available facilities at McKinley High School and had to move its nearly 400 students into classrooms in the Timken Vocational High School building. In spite of the slow start, the 1950s ended with the Canton Center already pushing the carrying capacity of its new home at Timken High. The next decade would usher in a period of unprecedented growth for Kent State in Stark County.