HISTORY

The organization today known as the Indiana Association for College Admission Counseling (INACAC) was originated in 1939 as the Committee on Educational Cooperation in Indiana.  The group was established for the purpose of bringing some order to college visitations to Indiana high schools.

The greatest accomplishment of the Committee was the development of Student Guidance Conferences, which were organized primarily on the county level.  In the academic year 1939-40, a total of 72 conferences were held in Indiana involving some 670 high schools, 17,000 students, and nearly 850 college counselors.  The current College Day/Night Programs are an outgrowth of this initial attempt to coordinate high school and college counseling activities.

In 1942, the Committee was forced to discontinue functioning because of travel restrictions brought on by World War II; however, a need and desire were felt in 1947 to revive the organization.  A new constitution was adopted on October 2, 1948, and the name of the group was changed to The Committee on High School-College Cooperation in Indiana.

The new constitution provided for a membership of 64 people comprised of an admission officer from each of the 32 accredited colleges in Indiana, 16 secondary school principals to be appointed by the Indiana Secondary School Principals Association, and eight county superintendents appointed by the Indiana County Superintendents Association.  The constitution emphasized that the purpose of the Committee was to develop cooperation between the secondary schools of Indiana and the institutions of higher learning within the state.

Under a March 17, 1960, constitutional revision, high school guidance counselors were added to the membership of the Committee.  This alteration reflected the redefining of the responsibilities of secondary school personnel and the growth of guidance, and particularly college counseling, in Indiana high schools.

Constitutional amendments adopted on July 12, 1966, and on April 2, 1968, provided for the Committee to become the “Indiana Association of College Admissions Counselors” (IACAC), reflecting the ties and association of the group with the National Association of College Admission Counselors (NACAC).  In December of 1983, the Internal Revenue Service granted IACAC the status of a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization.  This means IACAC is exempt from paying federal income tax, and contributions to IACAC can be declared as contributions to a charity.  The constitution was again reviewed and revisions were adopted in 1984.  On April 11, 1995, the organization was recognized by the state of Indiana as a not-for-profit corporation.  In 1996, the organization changed the name to the “Indiana Association for College Admission Counseling” (IACAC) to reflect the membership of both high school counselors and college admission counselors.  In 2006, IACAC took another step forward by deciding to engage the services of an Executive Assistant to handle the day-to-day operations of the organization in a professional manner.

In 2019, the Association adopted “INACAC” as its official acronym to distinguish itself from Illinois and Iowa’s college counseling associations.

The purposes of INACAC are exclusively educational and charitable.  Its mission is to establish and maintain high professional standards in college admissions guidance in the secondary schools and colleges.  In this regard, INACAC subscribes and adheres to the published Statement of Principles of Good Practice for members of the NACAC.  At the same time, the Association works to develop and improve relationships between secondary schools and colleges.

The priorities of the organization include assisting in the development of efficient programs of counseling which will aid the student in selecting a suitable college.  In essence, INACAC attempts to serve students, parents, secondary schools, and colleges by considering the whole range of secondary school-college relations.

Specific programs designed to attain the goals of the Association include the publishing of a directory of college and secondary school members with complete contact information, an annual training program for new college admissions personnel, an annual spring meeting with workshops of timely interest, and an annual two-day conference with over 30 sessions designed to help college admissions professionals in their work with students and their families.  INACAC has also established a clearinghouse for recommendation of dates for Indiana College Days/Nights.  Beginning in the 1983-84 academic year, regional college fairs were inaugurated by the Association and administered by our Educational Calendar Committee.  The Association encouraged the establishment of and serves in and advisory capacity to the State Student Assistance Commission of Indiana.  In recent years, mechanisms have been established providing for the implementation of NACAC programs and policies on the state level.  In addition, there are various subcommittees working in the many areas of college counseling.

The history of INACAC is a record of the concerns, problems, and the changing patterns of preparing for and entering college.  The activities are a reflection of the response of the association to these changing patterns and concerns.  INACAC serves as a forum in which the colleges and high schools of Indian can discuss their mutual problems.  These problems take on a new perspective when they are understood by both college and high school representatives and when their solutions are based on the greatest needs of the college-bound student.