Higher Learning Commission

On December 31, 1894, a letter of invitation was sent to representatives of various colleges and secondary schools in ten North Central U.S. states inviting them to Northwestern University on March 29-30, 1895 to discuss the creation of a new association. From that initial gathering, the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools was born.

The 36 attending delegates chose University of Illinois President Andrew S. Draper as chair of the association at the exploratory meeting. The delegates had a more difficult time agreeing on the function of the association.

“Shall this association…listen to papers and discuss them, or shall we assume the responsibility of doing certain things besides talking,” said Association Secretary William Henry Butts, principal of a private college-prep school in Michigan, who regularly had to accommodate college requirements into his academy curriculum.

After much discussion, the delegates compromised that the first constitution of the organization state that the goal of the association would be to establish closer relations between colleges and secondary schools of the North Central states. From that initial gathering, and two days of discussions, the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools was born. The structure of the association was well defined. It was led by a president two vice presidents from each of the ten member states, a secretary and a treasurer. The latter two positions with the president joined four other elected members as the executive committee that ran the organization similar to a board of trustees. The officers were elected for one year, and the association’s annual fee in 1895 was $3.00 per member and allowed for one vote from each.

The first annual meeting was conducted in April 1896 at which William Rainey Harper commented that an essential element of the meeting was to “grasp each other’s hands, and…look into each other’s faces.” With that, the spring annual conference was held for the first time.

Over the next several years, the Association would meet to discuss and debate various topics as they pertained to secondary schools and colleges. Some early topics may sound very familiar: qualifications which instructors of college freshman should possess; how to provide for individual differences among students; and providing for systems of admission requirements to colleges and universities. However, the association was an advisory body only with member institutions free to accept or reject recommendations. Between 1901-1910 this began to change, and the association put into place more clearly defined requirements – or criteria – for membership.

The foresight of those early organizers created what is today’s Higher Learning Commission.

Visuals of those early leaders of the agency are posted in a photo gallery on the HLC website page dedicated to the history of the organization.