ACT was established in 1959 as an independent, not-for-profit organization. ACT's mission is to help people achieve education and workplace success. ACT provides assessments, curriculum, and other solutions that serve the needs of students, job seekers, educators, employers, and others. ACT solutions include The ACT and our WorkKeys suite of assessments and credentials, which includes the National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC). Issued at four levels, the NCRC certifies essential skills relevant across industries and to multiple postsecondary pathways. Trusted by employers, the NCRC assessments are also administered statewide to juniors and seniors in over a dozen states, and serve as the basis of state- and county-level workforce and economic development initiatives. Over 5 million NCRCs have been issued since the credential was introduced in 2006.ACT is headquartered in Iowa City, Iowa, where it was founded to fulfill the vision of E.F. Lindquist, the pioneer in achievement-based assessment. ACT employs more than 800 full-time employees, over two-thirds of whom hold a bachelor's and over one-third a Master's, Ph.D. or other professional credential. ACT maintains partnerships with educational institutions, industry associations, foundations, and public-private entities. ACT partners endorse the NCRC as a reliable indicator of skills essential to both education and career success. ACT examinee population includes students, job seekers, and job incumbents, both domestically and internationally. To complement the NCRC, we offer curriculum that helps individuals build their skills in the areas measured by the NCRC assessments.