In the 1950s the government established the Guidance and Personnel Services Section in the Division of State and Local School Systems. In 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik I. Out of concern that the Russians were winning the space race and that there were not enough scientists and mathematicians, the government passed the National Defense Education Act, spurring growth in vocational and career counseling through larger funding. In the 1950s the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) was founded as one of the early divisions of what is now known as the American Counseling Association (ACA).