A 3-year boarding secondary school for boys (14-18years), Adisadel was founded on January 4th, 1910 by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (S.P.G.). The school was then named SPG Grammar School. In 1924 the name was changed to St Nicholas Grammar School. When the school was relocated to its present location in early 1936 from downtown Cape Coast, it assumed its current name-Adisadel College. The school campus spreads above and below a hill that is rich with tropical ecological preserves. The lower campus, known as Katanga is joined to the upper campus by a stairway that rises over 150 ft. The upper school known as Leopoldville is where the academic and administrative facilities are located. With the current student population of 2000, the school has grown and evolved from an institution that started as training boys for the Anglican priesthood. Adisadel offers a rigorous academic training that prepares its student for university entry. However, students are encourage to actively participate in extracurricular activities. There are also many student clubs and organizations that caters to various social and political interests. The school offers students a chance to grow spiritually. There are various religious organizations on campus that caters to the spiritual needs of students. Students are trained to be disciplined and follow the school rules, the first of which reads "A breach of common sense, is a breach of college rule". Most of the facilities on the campus were built by the pioneering students. Such self-reliant deeds has positively influenced the generation of students who pass through the school to amply give back to the alma mater. Today there are Adisadel alumni associations all over the world. Most have achieved remarkable success and set enviable record. The competitive nature of Adisadel students can be found in the school motto "Vel Primus, Vel Cum Primis", a Latin phrase which translates "Either the first or with the first.
