The conference consists of twelve colleges and universities located in the U.S. states of Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio.

Founded in 1992, the conference was created as a successor group for the now-defunct NAIA District 23.

The WHAC announced on January 27, 2012, added bowling and lacrosse for both men and women as conference sports effective the fall of 2012, becoming the first NAIA conference to offer championships in these sports.

[1] Men's ice hockey was added as a conference sport effective the fall of 2017, making the WHAC the first conference in the NAIA to offer ice hockey as a conference championship sport.

[2][3] The WHAC currently has 13 full members, all but one are private schools: