'all-Greek') refers to the group's members being autonomous social Greek-letter societies of college women and alumnae.

[2] Other than basic agreements which its member groups must unanimously vote to follow, the NPC confines itself to recommendations and advice and acts as a court of final appeal in any college Panhellenic disputes.

Throughout its early years, NPC members were often racially and religiously segregated and rarely admitted Jewish, Catholic, or ethnic minority members, which led to the formation of group-specific sororities which attempted to provide the same social and academic outlets to groups who were otherwise excluded from membership.

[5] That year, the Congress also began plans for a centralized headquarters to coordinate and streamline interactions with the separate sororities.

Its members were primarily sororities located on state campuses mainly attended by women entering the educational field.

[citation needed] There was competition between NPC and AES sororities, and dual memberships were often held.

By the 1940s many teachers' colleges had begun to add liberal arts programs, and vice versa, which led to difficulties in the organizations functioning separately.

[10] By the end of the 1960s and the civil rights movement, NPC sororities eliminated official policies that prevented minority members from joining,[4] although diversity in Greek life remained an issue.

[13] In November 2015, eight NPC members (Alpha Phi, Alpha Chi Omega, Phi Mu, Alpha Gamma Delta, Sigma Delta Tau, Delta Phi Epsilon, Delta Gamma, and Gamma Phi Beta) broke ranks from the NPC to withdraw their support for the Safe Campus Act, a controversial bill that would have required campus sexual assault victims to report to police and submit to a law enforcement investigation before their school could begin its own investigation.

[18] Though the NPC created a gender identity study group to examine potential legal consequences, they concluded that the legal precedents were "incomplete, inconclusive, and inconsistent," and did not enact official policy or recommendations.

[19] By 2021, most national organizations had released political statements on racial and social equity and inclusion, while also developing membership policies regarding gender identity.

As of 2021, members rotate onto the board in the order their organization joined the NPC, but the chairman is now elected.