Company Profile

Company Overview

ACT is an independent, not-for-profit organization that provides more than a hundred assessment, research, information, and program management services in the broad areas of education and workforce development.
Each year, we serve millions of people in elementary and secondary schools, colleges, professional associations, businesses, and government agencies, nationally and internationally. ACT has offices across the United States and throughout the world.
Though designed to meet a wide array of needs, all ACT programs and services have one guiding purpose: helping people achieve education and workplace success.

Company History

The concept for the American College Testing Program emerged in the 1950s, and the organization itself was founded in 1959. At the time, U.S. political and demographic developments were inspiring major changes in attitudes about, and approaches to, higher education.

Prior to 1959, there was just one national college-entrance testing program, a program that focused on identifying the most academically able students for admission to the nation's selective universities. The remainder of college students were admitted either on the basis of scores earned on entrance exams offered by individual states or colleges or on the basis of family ties.

In the late 1950s, large numbers of students were approaching college age and wanted to attend college. Financial aid to students was increasing, and most colleges desired increasing enrollments. It was in this environment that ACT's founders established The American College Testing Program, Inc., now known as ACT. ACT's first testing program, the ACT Assessment, was designed to serve two purposes:

• to help students make better decisions about which colleges to attend and which programs to study
  
• to provide information helpful to colleges both in the process of admitting students and in ensuring their success after enrollment

As the nation's view of education evolved to embrace lifelong learning, ACT's programs and services have similarly grown and evolved—helping people plan for, and assess, learning and training throughout their lives, while in school or the workplace. As a result, ACT has played an increasingly important role in the nation's educational enterprise, by contributing to the scope of the nation's educational vision and delivering programs that support that vision.