The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is divided into three divisions based on scholarship allocation. Each division is made up of several conferences for regional league competition. Unless otherwise noted, changes in conference affiliation will occur on July 1 of the given year.

Division I

Under NCAA regulations, all Division I conferences defined as "multisport conferences" must meet the following criteria:^[1]

• A total of at least seven active Division I members.
• Separate from the above, at least seven active Division I members that sponsor both men's and women's basketball.
• Sponsorship of at least 12 NCAA Division I sports.
• Minimum of six men's sports, with the following additional restrictions:
  • Men's basketball is a mandatory sport, and at least seven members must sponsor that sport.
  • Non-football conferences must sponsor at least two men's team sports other than basketball.
  • At least six members must sponsor five men's sports other than basketball, including either football or two other team sports.
• Minimum of six women's sports, with the following additional restrictions:
  • Women's basketball is a mandatory sport, with at least seven members sponsoring that sport.
  • At least two other women's team sports must be sponsored.
  • At least six members must sponsor five women's sports other than basketball, including two other team sports. If a conference officially sponsors an NCAA "emerging sport" for women (as of 2023, acrobatics & tumbling, equestrianism, rugby union, stunt, triathlon, or wrestling), that sport will be counted if five members (instead of six) sponsor it.

Schools in all divisions that sponsor athletic programs for only one sex/gender need only meet the sports sponsorship requirements for that sex/gender.^[2]

Football Bowl Subdivision

Conferences in the Football Bowl Subdivision must meet a more stringent set of NCAA requirements than other conferences. Among these additional NCAA regulations, institutions in the Football Bowl Subdivision must be "multisport conferences" and participate in conference play in at least six men's and eight women's sports, including football, men's and women's basketball, and at least two other women's team sports. Each school may count one men's and one women's sport not sponsored by its primary conference toward the above limits, as long as that sport competes in another Division I conference. The men's and women's sports so counted need not be the same sport.^[3][4]

Conference	Nickname	Founded	Members	Sports	Headquarters	Map
American Athletic Conference	The American	2013[lower-alpha 1]	14[lower-alpha 2]	22	Irving, Texas
Atlantic Coast Conference	ACC	1953	15[lower-alpha 3]	27[lower-alpha 4]	Greensboro, North Carolina
Big Ten Conference	Big Ten B1G	1896	14[lower-alpha 5]	28	Rosemont, Illinois
Big 12 Conference	Big 12	1996	14[lower-alpha 6]	23[lower-alpha 7]	Irving, Texas
Conference USA	C-USA	1995	9[lower-alpha 8]	18	Irving, Texas
Division I FBS independents[lower-alpha 9]	Ind.	N/A	4[lower-alpha 10]	1	N/A
Mid-American Conference	MAC	1946	12	23	Cleveland, Ohio
Mountain West Conference	MW MWC	1999	11[lower-alpha 11]	18	Colorado Springs, Colorado
Pac-12 Conference	Pac-12	1959[lower-alpha 12]	12[lower-alpha 13]	24[lower-alpha 14]	San Francisco, California
Southeastern Conference	SEC	1932	14[lower-alpha 15]	21	Birmingham, Alabama
Sun Belt Conference	SBC	1976	14	20[lower-alpha 16]	New Orleans, Louisiana

1. ↑ Known as Big East Conference prior to 2013.
2. ↑ 14 full members with Wichita State as a non-football member; 14 football members with Navy as a football-only affiliate.
   • 13 full members and 14 football members in 2024 with loss of SMU and addition of Army in football.
3. ↑ 15 members, 14 football members. Notre Dame football is an FBS independent, but has a substantial cross-scheduling agreement with the ACC.
   • 18 full members and 17 football members in 2024 with addition of California, SMU, and Stanford.
4. ↑ 26 sports by NCAA count. The ACC sponsors separate championships for men's and women's fencing, which the NCAA considers to be a single sport.
   • 28 sports (27 by NCAA count) in 2023 with addition of women's gymnastics.
5. ↑ 18 members in 2024 with addition of Oregon, UCLA, USC, and Washington.
6. ↑ 16 members in 2024 with addition of Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah and loss of Oklahoma and Texas.
7. ↑ 25 sports in 2024 with addition of beach volleyball and women's lacrosse.
8. ↑ 10 members in 2024 with addition of Kennesaw State.
   • 11 members in 2025 with addition of Delaware.
9. ↑ Note that "independents" is not a conference; it is simply a designation used for schools whose football programs do not play in any conference. All of these schools have conference memberships for other sports.
10. ↑ 3 FBS independent schools in 2024 with Army joining The American.
11. ↑ 11 members (12 football) with Hawaii as a football-only affiliate.
12. ↑ Pacific Coast Conference chartered in 1915; current charter formed 1959 by five former PCC members, with three others joining by 1964.
13. ↑ 2 members in 2024 with loss of Arizona, Arizona State, California, Colorado, Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, Utah, USC, and Washington.
14. ↑ 23 NCAA-sanctioned sports plus men's rowing; the NCAA governs women's rowing but not men's.
15. ↑ 16 members in 2024 with addition of Oklahoma and Texas.
16. ↑ Possibility of 21 sports with the potential addition of field hockey at an indeterminate date.

Football Championship Subdivision

In addition to competing in football, multisport conferences in the Football Championship Subdivision must still meet the general NCAA Division I requirements regarding the minimum number of men's and women's sports (see above).^[1]

Conference	Nickname	Founded	Full Members	Sports	Headquarters	Map
Big Sky Conference	Big Sky, BSC	1963	10[lower-alpha 1]	16	Ogden, Utah
Big South Conference	Big South	1983	9 [lower-alpha 2]	19	Charlotte, North Carolina
Coastal Athletic Association Football Conference	CAA Football	2007[lower-alpha 3]	15[lower-alpha 4][lower-alpha 5]	1	Richmond, Virginia
Division I FCS Independents[lower-alpha 6]			1[lower-alpha 7]	1
Ivy League	Ivy League	1954[lower-alpha 8]	8	32[lower-alpha 9]	Princeton, New Jersey
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference	MEAC	1970	8[lower-alpha 10]	14	Norfolk, Virginia
Missouri Valley Football Conference	MVFC	1985[lower-alpha 11]	12[lower-alpha 12]	1	St. Louis, Missouri
Northeast Conference	NEC	1981	9[lower-alpha 13]	24[lower-alpha 14]	Somerset, New Jersey
Ohio Valley Conference	OVC	1948	11[lower-alpha 15]	19	Brentwood, Tennessee
Patriot League	Patriot	1986	10[lower-alpha 16]	24	Center Valley, Pennsylvania
Pioneer Football League	PFL	1991	11	1	St. Louis, Missouri
Southern Conference	SoCon	1921	10[lower-alpha 17]	20	Spartanburg, South Carolina
Southland Conference	Southland SLC	1963	10[lower-alpha 18]	18	Frisco, Texas
Southwestern Athletic Conference	SWAC	1920	12	18	Birmingham, Alabama
United Athletic Conference[lower-alpha 19]	UAC	2023	9[lower-alpha 20]	1

1. ↑ 10 full members and 12 football members with Cal Poly and UC Davis as football-only affiliates.
2. ↑ 9 full members and 4 football members.
   • All football members play in the Big South–OVC Football Association, an alliance between the Big South and the Ohio Valley Conference which shares a single automatic berth in the FCS playoffs.
   • 2 football members in 2024 with loss of associate members Bryant and Robert Morris.
3. ↑ While CAA Football was formally founded in 2007, its history can be traced back decades earlier.
   • The earliest predecessor is the New England Conference, which existed from 1938–1947. However, CAA Football does not recognize this league as part of its history.
   • In 1947, four New England Conference members joined with other schools to form the Yankee Conference under a new charter. CAA Football considers its history to have started with the Yankee Conference.
   • The Yankee Conference, by then a football-only league, was taken over by the Atlantic 10 Conference after the 1996 football season.
   • The all-sports CAA took over A-10 football in 2007, forming CAA Football as a separate entity.
4. ↑ CAA Football is a separate entity from the multi-sports CAA.
5. ↑ 16 members in 2024 with addition of Bryant.
   • 15 members in 2025 with loss of Delaware.
6. ↑ Note that "Independents" is not a conference; it is simply a designation used for schools whose football programs do not play in any conference. These schools have conference memberships for other sports.
7. ↑ Kennesaw State started an FBS transition in 2023 and is not participating in the United Athletic Conference.
   • No independents in 2024 with Kennesaw State joining Conference USA.
8. ↑ While the Ivy League considers its athletic conference to have been established in 1954, the history of the athletic league can be traced back decades earlier:
   • In 1901, the Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League (EIBL) was formed by five schools that would later become part of the current Ivy League; the EIBL membership eventually became identical to that of the future all-sports league. The EIBL was directly absorbed into the all-sports Ivy League, which considers the EIBL to be part of its history.
   • In 1945, the Ivy Group Agreement, which governed competition and policies among the Ivy schools in football, was signed by all eight schools that eventually formed the all-sports league.
   • The official formation of the athletic Ivy League came in 1954, when the Ivy Group Agreement was extended to cover all sports.
   For more details, see the section on the history of the athletic Ivy League.
9. ↑ The Ivy League, by NCAA count, sponsors 28 NCAA-sanctioned sports. The Ivy League awards separate men's and women's fencing championships, while the NCAA considers fencing a single coeducational sport. Additionally, the Ivy League sponsors championships in the non-NCAA sports of men's rowing plus men's and women's squash.
10. ↑ 8 full members, 6 football members.
11. ↑ While the MVFC began football competition in 1985, the conference charter dates to 1982. See History of the Missouri Valley Football Conference for more details.
12. ↑ 11 members in 2024 with loss of Western Illinois.
13. ↑ 9 full members, 8 football members with Fairleigh Dickinson and Le Moyne as non-football members and with Duquesne as a football-only affiliate.
    • 8 full members and anywhere from 7 to 9 football members in 2024 with the following changes:
      • Loss of football-sponsoring Merrimack and Sacred Heart; neither school has announced its future football affiliation, as both are joining the non-football Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
      • Addition of Chicago State as a full member without football.
      • Return of former full member Robert Morris as a football associate.
14. ↑ 25 sports in 2024 with reinstatement of men's lacrosse.
15. ↑ 11 full members, 6 football members (full members Morehead State and Western Illinois respectively play football in the Pioneer Football League and Missouri Valley Football Conference).
    • All current OVC football members (i.e., not counting Morehead State and Western Illinois) play that sport in the Big South–OVC Football Association.
    • 7 football members in 2024 with Western Illinois joining the Big South–OVC alliance.
16. ↑ 10 full members and 7 football members with Army, Navy, American, Boston, and Loyola (MD) as non-football members (Army and Navy both compete in FBS football) and with Fordham and Georgetown as football-only affiliates.
17. ↑ 10 full members, 9 football members.
18. ↑ 10 full members, 8 football members.
19. ↑ Not an officially recognized NCAA conference; that body treats the UAC as the continuation of a preexisting football-only alliance between the ASUN Conference and Western Athletic Conference.
20. ↑ 10 members in 2024 with addition of West Georgia.
    • 11 members in 2025 with addition of UTRGV.

Non-football, multi-sport conferences

Multisport conferences that do not compete in football must still meet the general NCAA Division I requirements regarding the minimum number of men's and women's sports (see above).^[1]

Conference	Nickname	Founded	Members	Sports	Headquarters	Map
America East Conference	America East AmEast	1979	9	18	Boston, Massachusetts
ASUN Conference	ASUN	1978	12[lower-alpha 1]	20	Atlanta, Georgia
Atlantic 10 Conference	A-10	1975	15	22	Newport News, Virginia
Big East Conference	Big East	1979[lower-alpha 2]	11	23[lower-alpha 3]	New York City, New York
Big West Conference	Big West BWC	1969	11	19[lower-alpha 4]	Irvine, California
Coastal Athletic Association	CAA	1983	14[lower-alpha 5]	23	Richmond, Virginia
Horizon League	Horizon	1979	11	19	Indianapolis, Indiana
Independents			1[lower-alpha 6]
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference	MAAC	1980	11[lower-alpha 7]	25[lower-alpha 8]	Edison, New Jersey
Missouri Valley Conference	MVC The Valley	1907	12	17	St. Louis, Missouri
Mountain Pacific Sports Federation	MPSF	1992	37[lower-alpha 9]	11[lower-alpha 10]	Woodland, California
Summit League	The Summit	1982	9	19	Sioux Falls, South Dakota
West Coast Conference	WCC	1952	9	16	San Bruno, California
Western Athletic Conference	WAC	1962	11	19	Arlington, Texas

1. ↑ 12 members in 2024 with loss of Kennesaw State and addition of West Georgia.
2. ↑ Although the charter of the current Big East dates only to the 2013 split of the original Big East, both the current Big East and the American Athletic Conference claim 1979 as their founding dates. The current Big East maintains the pre-split history of the original conference in all sports that it sponsors. In football and rowing, the two sports that are sponsored by The American but not the current Big East, neither conference recognizes the history of the original Big East.
3. ↑ 22 NCAA-sanctioned sports, plus the non-NCAA and fully coeducational esports.
4. ↑ 21 sports in 2024 with addition of men's and women's swimming & diving.
5. ↑ The CAA Football Conference is a separate entity from the all-sports CAA.
6. ↑ Chicago State.
   • No independents in 2024, with Chicago State joining the Northeast Conference.
7. ↑ 13 members in 2024 with addition of Merrimack and Sacred Heart.
8. ↑ 23 NCAA-sanctioned sports plus two non-NCAA sports—men's rowing, and Esports, which are fully coeducational.
9. ↑ No more than 10 schools are competing in any one of the MPSF's sports in 2023–24.
   • 38 members in 2024 with the following changes:
     • Departure of Cal Poly, Cal State Bakersfield, and UC Santa Barbara, members only in swimming & diving, due to the addition of men's and women's swimming & diving by their primary home of the Big West Conference.
     • Return of former members Oregon and Washington for the newly sponsored beach volleyball.
     • Addition of Menlo and Vanguard in men's volleyball.
10. ↑ Sponsors 10 NCAA sports and 1 non-NCAA sport, artistic swimming.
    • 11 NCAA sports and 12 total sports in 2024 with addition of beach volleyball.

Ice hockey conferences

See also: List of NCAA Division I ice hockey programs

Division I ice hockey has a different conference structure than the above multisport conferences. These schools have memberships in other conferences for other sports.

Conference	Nickname	Founded	Members (Men/Women)	Headquarters	Map
Atlantic Hockey	Atlantic Hockey AHA	1997	11 (11/none)[lower-alpha 1]	Haverhill, Massachusetts
Central Collegiate Hockey Association	CCHA	2020[lower-alpha 2]	9 (9/none)	Farmington Hills, Michigan
College Hockey America	CHA	1999[lower-alpha 3]	6 (none/6)[lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 4]	Haverhill, Massachusetts
ECAC Hockey	ECAC	1962	12 (12/12)	Albany, New York
Hockey East	Hockey East HEA	1984	12 (11/10)	Amesbury, Massachusetts
Independents			6 (6/none)[lower-alpha 5]
New England Women's Hockey Alliance	NEWHA	2018[lower-alpha 6]	8 (none/8)	Winthrop, Massachusetts
National Collegiate Hockey Conference	NCHC	2011[lower-alpha 7]	8 (8/none)[lower-alpha 8]	Colorado Springs, Colorado
Western Collegiate Hockey Association	WCHA	1951[lower-alpha 9]	8 (none/8)	Edina, Minnesota

1. 1 2 Atlantic Hockey and College Hockey America have announced they will merge in 2024. They have not yet determined the branding of the merged entity.
2. ↑ Founded in 2020, with play starting in 2021, as the revival of an earlier CCHA that existed from 1971 to 2013; the current CCHA considers itself a continuation of the original. Bowling Green, which was a member of the original CCHA for its entire existence and is a charter member of the revived conference, maintained rights to the league name.
3. ↑ College Hockey America was formed in 1999 as a men's-only conference; women's play began in 2002. The men's side of CHA folded after the 2009–10 season.
4. ↑ 7 members in 2025 with addition of Delaware.
5. ↑ 5 members in 2024 with Arizona State joining the National Collegiate Hockey Conference.
6. ↑ Established as a scheduling alliance in 2017, officially organized as a conference in 2018, and officially recognized by the NCAA in 2019.
7. ↑ Although founded in 2011, the NCHC did not begin play until 2013.
8. ↑ 9 members in 2024 with addition of Arizona State.
9. ↑ Founded in 1951 as a men's-only conference; women's play began in 1999. The men's side of the WCHA folded after the 2020–21 season, with most of its members forming the revived CCHA.

Other single-sport conferences

This list includes conferences in sports that the NCAA does not fully split into divisions, such as men's volleyball and rifle. Sports in which the NCAA sponsors separate championships for men and women are officially treated by the NCAA as two separate sports.

Conference	Nickname	Founded	Members	Sports	Headquarters	Map
Central Collegiate Fencing Conference	CCFC		6	1 (Fencing)	?
Central Collegiate Ski Association	CCSA	2009	7[lower-alpha 1]	1 (Skiing)	?
Coastal Collegiate Sports Association	CCSA	2008	4	1 (beach volleyball)	Macon, Georgia
Collegiate Water Polo Association	CWPA	1970s	26[lower-alpha 2]	1 (water polo)	Bridgeport, Pennsylvania
East Atlantic Gymnastics League	EAGL	1995	7	1 (gymnastics)	?
Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges	EARC	?	18	1 (rowing)	Danbury, Connecticut
Eastern Association of Women's Rowing Colleges	EAWRC	?	18	1 (rowing)	Danbury, Connecticut
Eastern Intercollegiate Gymnastics League	EIGL	?	5	1 (gymnastics)	Danbury, Connecticut
Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association	EISA	?	15	1 (Skiing)	?
Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association	EIVA	1977	6	1 (men's volleyball)	Bronxville, New York
Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association	EIWA	1905	17	1 (wrestling)	?
Eastern Women's Fencing Conference	EWFC	2000	7	1 (fencing)	?
Golden Coast Conference	GCC	2013[lower-alpha 3]	8	1 (water polo)	?
Great America Rifle Conference	GARC	1998	9	1 (rifle)	?
Intercollegiate Fencing Conference of Southern California.	IFCSC	1996?	2[lower-alpha 4]	1 (fencing)	?
Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Fencing Association	MACFA	1952	8[lower-alpha 5]	1 (fencing)	Hackettstown, New Jersey
Mid-Atlantic Rifle Conference	MAC	1978	7[lower-alpha 6]	1 (rifle)	?
Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference	MAWPC		7	1 (Water Polo)	?
Midwest Fencing Conference.	MFC	1968	6[lower-alpha 7]	1 (fencing)	University of Notre Dame (?)
Midwest Independent Conference	MIC	?	6	1 (women's gymnastics)	UIC (?)
Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association	MIVA	1961	9	1 (men's volleyball)	Columbus, Ohio
National Intercollegiate Women's Fencing Association	NIWFA	1929	10[lower-alpha 8]	1 (fencing)	?
New England Intercollegiate Fencing Conference	NEIFC	?	8[lower-alpha 9]	1 (fencing)	?
Northeast Fencing Conference	NFC	1992	8[lower-alpha 10]	1 (fencing)	?
Pacific Collegiate Swim and Dive Conference	PCSC	2002	9 (men) 15 (women)	1 (swimming)	?
Patriot Rifle Conference	PRC	2013	6	1 (rifle)	Colorado Springs, Colorado
Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association	RMISA	1950	6[lower-alpha 11]	1 (Skiing)	?
Western Water Polo Association	WWPA	1981	7 (men) 8 (women)	1 (water polo)	?

1. ↑ There are 7 NCAA varsity members; the conference also has one junior college member.
2. ↑ 9 schools have both men's & women's varsity teams, 9 have men's varsity teams only, 8 have women's varsity teams only; additionally, there are 136 men's and 86 women's club teams.
3. ↑ Women only. The GCC was founded in 2013 as a women's-only conference; a men's division was added in 2016 and shut down in 2023.
4. ↑ There are 2 varsity members; the conference also has 7 college club members.
5. ↑ There are 8 varsity members; the conference also has 7 college club members.
6. ↑ There are 7 varsity members; the conference also has 6 college club members.
7. ↑ There are 6 varsity members; the conference also has 13 college club members.
8. ↑ There are 10 varsity members; the conference also has 10 college club members.
9. ↑ There are 8 varsity members; the conference also has 13 college club members.
10. ↑ There are 8 varsity members; the conference also has 5 college club members.
11. ↑ There are 6 varsity members; the conference also has 4 college club members.

Division II

Among the NCAA regulations, Division II institutions have to sponsor at least five sports for men and five for women (or four for men and six for women), with two team sports for each sex, and each playing season represented by each sex. Teams that consist of both men and women are counted as men's teams for sports sponsorship purposes.^[5]

Current conferences

Conferences that sponsor football are highlighted in yellow.

Conference	Nickname	Founded	Members	Sports	Headquarters	Map
California Collegiate Athletic Association	CCAA	1938	12[lower-alpha 1]	13	Walnut Creek, California
Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference	CACC	1961	13	16	New Haven, Connecticut
Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association	CIAA	1912	13[lower-alpha 2]	15	Hampton, Virginia
Conference Carolinas	CC	1930	14[lower-alpha 3]	25[lower-alpha 4]	Thomasville, North Carolina
East Coast Conference	ECC	1989	9	18	Central Islip, New York
Great American Conference	GAC	2011	12	16	Russellville, Arkansas
Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference	GLIAC	1972	10[lower-alpha 5]	21	Bay City, Michigan
Great Lakes Valley Conference	GLVC	1978	14[lower-alpha 6]	24	Indianapolis, Indiana
Great Midwest Athletic Conference	G-MAC	2011	14[lower-alpha 7]	23[lower-alpha 8]	Greenwood, Indiana
Great Northwest Athletic Conference	GNAC	2001	10	15	Portland, Oregon
Gulf South Conference	GSC	1970	13[lower-alpha 9]	17	Birmingham, Alabama
Division II independents			4[lower-alpha 10]
Lone Star Conference	LSC	1931	17[lower-alpha 11]	18	Richardson, Texas
Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association	MIAA	1912	14[lower-alpha 12]	19	Kansas City, Missouri
Mountain East Conference	MEC	2012	11[lower-alpha 13]	23	Bridgeport, West Virginia
Northeast-10 Conference	NE-10	1980	12[lower-alpha 14]	23	Mansfield, Massachusetts
Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference	NSIC	1932	15[lower-alpha 15]	18	St. Paul, Minnesota.
Pacific West Conference	PacWest	1992	11[lower-alpha 16]	15	Newport Beach, California
Peach Belt Conference	PBC	1990	10[lower-alpha 17]	15	Augusta, Georgia
Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference	PSAC	1951	18[lower-alpha 18]	23	Lock Haven, Pennsylvania
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference	RMAC	1909	15[lower-alpha 19]	23	Colorado Springs, Colorado
South Atlantic Conference	SAC	1975	13[lower-alpha 20]	20	Rock Hill, South Carolina
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference	SIAC	1913	15[lower-alpha 21]	14	Tucker, Georgia
Sunshine State Conference	SSC	1975	11	18	Melbourne, Florida

1. ↑ 13 members in 2025 with addition of UC Merced.
2. ↑ 13 full members; 12 football members.
3. ↑ 15 members in 2024 with addition of Shorter.
4. ↑ 26 sports in 2025 with addition of football.
5. ↑ 10 competing full members, 7 football members. Roosevelt joined for administrative purposes in 2023 but does not start GLIAC competition until 2024.
   • 11 total members and 8 football members in 2024 once Roosevelt starts GLIAC competition.
6. ↑ 14 full members, 8 football members.
   • 15 full members, 9 football members in 2024 with addition of Lincoln (MO).
7. ↑ 14 full members, 10 football members.
   • 13 full members in 2024 with loss of Trevecca Nazarene.
8. ↑ Emerging sport wrestling included.
9. ↑ 13 full members, 10 football members.
   • 12 full members, 9 football members in 2024 with addition of Erskine as a football-only affiliate and Trevecca Nazarene, and loss of Shorter and West Georgia.
   • 6 football members in 2025 with loss of Chowan, Erskine, and North Greenville.
10. ↑ 4 all-sports independents, plus Post, a full member of a non-football conference, as a football independent.
    • 1 football independent in 2024 with addition of Shorter and loss of Post.
    • No football football independents in 2025 with loss of Shorter.
11. ↑ 17 full members, 9 football members with Central Washington and Western Oregon as football-only affiliates.
    • 17 full members, 10 football members in 2024 with addition of Sul Ross State and loss of Arkansas–Fort Smith.
    • 18 full members in 2025 with possible addition of UT Dallas.
12. ↑ 14 full members, 12 football members.
    • 14 full members, 11 football members with loss of Lincoln (MO) and addition of Arkansas–Fort Smith.
13. ↑ 11 full members with Davis & Elkins as a non-football member; 11 football members with UNC Pembroke as a football affiliate.
    • 12 full members in 2024 with addition of Point Park.
14. ↑ 12 full members, 8 football members.
    • 9 football members in 2024 with addition of Post as a football-only affiliate.
15. ↑ 15 full members, 13 football members.
    • 16 members, 14 football members in 2025 with addition of Jamestown.
16. ↑ 14 members in 2024 with additions of Jessup, Menlo, and Vanguard, once they are scheduled to start PacWest competition.
17. ↑ 11 members in 2025 with addition of Middle Georgia.
18. ↑ 18 full members, 16 football members.
19. ↑ 15 full members, 10 football members.
20. ↑ 13 full members, with Anderson (SC), Coker, and Lincoln Memorial as non-football members; 12 football members with Barton and Erskine as football affiliates.
    • 12 football members no later than 2024 with addition of football by current full member Anderson (SC) and loss of Erskine.
21. ↑ 15 full members, 13 football members.

Single-sport conferences

Conference	Nickname	Founded	Members	Sport	Headquarters	Map
Appalachian Swimming Conference	ASC	?	6 (men) 4 (women)	swimming	?
players+ ECAC Division II Field Hockey League	ECAC	2014	6	field hockey	Danbury, Connecticut
ECAC Division II Wrestling League	ECAC	2015	7	wrestling	Danbury, Connecticut	-->
New South Intercollegiate Swim Conference.	NSISC	1995	5 (men) 6 (women)	swimming	?
Pacific Collegiate Swim and Dive Conference	PCSC	2003	9 (men) 15 (women)	swimming	?

Other sports

These all-sports conferences sponsor sports which do not have D-II championships.

Conference	Nickname	Founded	Members[lower-alpha 1]	Sport	Headquarters	Map
Conference Carolinas	CC	1930	8	men's volleyball	Thomasville, North Carolina
Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference	CACC	1961	6	bowling	New Haven, Connecticut
Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association	CIAA	1912	10	bowling	Hampton, Virginia
East Coast Conference	ECC	1989	10	bowling	Central Islip, New York
			4	men's volleyball[lower-alpha 2]
Great Lakes Valley Conference	GLVC	1978	8	bowling	Indianapolis, Indiana
Northeast-10 Conference	NE-10	1980	6	men's ice hockey	South Easton, Massachusetts
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference	SIAC	1913	6	men's volleyball	Tucker, Georgia

1. ↑ Number reflects membership in the sport that lacks a D-II championship, not the number of full members.
2. ↑ First season of competition in 2023–24.

Division III

Unlike the other two divisions, Division III institutions cannot offer athletic scholarships. Among the other NCAA Division III requirements, schools have sports sponsorship requirements set by the NCAA. All institutions, regardless of enrollment, must sponsor at least three team sports for each sex/gender, and each playing season represented by each sex/gender.^[6]

A sports sponsorship rule unique to Division III is that the total number of sports that must be sponsored differs by a school's full-time undergraduate enrollment. Schools with an enrollment of 1,000 or fewer must sponsor at least five sports for men and five for women; those with larger enrollments must sponsor six men's and six women's sports. As in the other divisions, teams that include both men and women are treated as men's sports for the purpose of these regulations.^[7]

Current conferences

Conferences that sponsor football highlighted in yellow.

Conference	Nickname	Founded	Members	Sports	Headquarters	Map
Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference	AMCC	1997	10	16	North Boston, New York
American Rivers Conference	ARC	1922	9	22	Cedar Rapids, Iowa
American Southwest Conference	ASC	1996	10[lower-alpha 1]	16	Richardson, Texas
Atlantic East Conference	AEC	2018	7[lower-alpha 2]	20	Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Centennial Conference	Centennial	1981	11[lower-alpha 3]	24	Lancaster, Pennsylvania
City University of New York Athletic Conference	CUNYAC	1987	8	16	Flushing, Queens, New York
Coast to Coast Athletic Conference	C2C	1989	7[lower-alpha 4]	19	Fredericksburg, Virginia
College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin	CCIW	1946	9[lower-alpha 5]	26	Naperville, Illinois
Collegiate Conference of the South[8]	CCS	2022	9[lower-alpha 6]	14	Atlanta, Georgia
Commonwealth Coast Conference	CCC	1984	10[lower-alpha 7]	18	Springfield, Massachusetts
Eastern Collegiate Football Conference	ECFC	2009	5[lower-alpha 8]	1	Wilmington, Vermont
Empire 8	E8	1964	10[lower-alpha 9]	22	Rochester, New York
Great Northeast Athletic Conference	GNAC	1995	16[lower-alpha 10]	17	Boston, Massachusetts
Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference	HCAC	1987	10[lower-alpha 11]	16	Greenwood, Indiana
Division III Independents			3[lower-alpha 12]
Landmark Conference	Landmark	2006	10[lower-alpha 13]	23	Madison, New Jersey
Liberty League	Liberty	1995	12[lower-alpha 14]	26	Troy, New York
Little East Conference	LEC	1986	9	21	North Dartmouth, Massachusetts
Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference	MASCAC	1971	8[lower-alpha 15]	16	Westfield, Massachusetts
Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association	MIAA	1888	9[lower-alpha 16]	22	Freeland, Michigan
Middle Atlantic Conferences	MAC	1912	16[lower-alpha 17][lower-alpha 18]	27	Annville, Pennsylvania
Midwest Conference	Midwest	1921	9[lower-alpha 19]	20	Ripon, Wisconsin
Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference	MIAC	1920	13[lower-alpha 20]	22	St. Paul, Minnesota
New England Small College Athletic Conference	NESCAC	1971	11[lower-alpha 21]	26	Hadley, Massachusetts
New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference	NEWMAC	1998	12[lower-alpha 22]	20	Wellesley, Massachusetts
New Jersey Athletic Conference	NJAC	1985	10[lower-alpha 23]	21	Pitman, New Jersey
North Atlantic Conference	NAC	1996	14[lower-alpha 24]	15	Waterville, Maine
North Coast Athletic Conference	NCAC	1983	9	23	Westlake, Ohio
Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference	NACC	2006	14[lower-alpha 25]	19	Waukesha, Wisconsin
Northwest Conference	NWC	1926	9[lower-alpha 26]	20	Seattle, Washington
Ohio Athletic Conference	OAC	1902	10	23	Austintown, Ohio
Old Dominion Athletic Conference	ODAC	1976	15[lower-alpha 27]	25[lower-alpha 28]	Forest, Virginia
Presidents' Athletic Conference	PAC	1955	11[lower-alpha 29]	23[lower-alpha 30]	Wexford, Pennsylvania
Skyline Conference	Skyline	1989	12	17	Lawrenceville, New Jersey
Southern Athletic Association	SAA	2012	8[lower-alpha 31]	21	Atlanta, Georgia
Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference	SCIAC	1915	9[lower-alpha 32]	21	Los Angeles, California
Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference	SCAC	1962	9[lower-alpha 33]	18[lower-alpha 34]	Suwanee, Georgia
State University of New York Athletic Conference	SUNYAC	1958	10[lower-alpha 35]	20	Fredonia, New York
St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference	SLIAC	1989	10	14	St. Louis, Missouri
United East Conference[lower-alpha 36]	United East	2004	17[lower-alpha 37]	20	Gansevoort, New York
University Athletic Association	UAA	1986	8	22	Rochester, New York
Upper Midwest Athletic Conference	UMAC	1972	8[lower-alpha 38]	16	St. Paul, Minnesota
USA South Athletic Conference	USA South	1965	10[lower-alpha 39]	14	Fayetteville, North Carolina
Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference	WIAC	1913	8	22	Madison, Wisconsin

1. ↑ 10 full members with Concordia Texas, LeTourneau, Ozarks, and UT Dallas as non-football members, 8 football members with Austin and Texas Lutheran as football-only affiliates.
   • 6 full members and 4 football members in 2024 with departure of full members Concordia Texas, McMurry, Ozarks, and Sul Ross State and football-only members Austin and Texas Lutheran.
   • 5 full members in 2025 with the departure of UT Dallas.
2. ↑ 7 full members in 2024 with the closure of Cabrini and addition of Pratt.
3. ↑ 11 full members, 7 football members.
4. ↑ 6 full members in 2024 with departure of Pratt.
5. ↑ 9 full members, 10 football members with Washington (MO) as a football-only affiliate.
6. ↑ 9 members in 2024 with loss of Berea and addition of Asbury.
7. ↑ 10 members, 6 football members.
   • 11 members in 2024 with addition of Johnson & Wales.
   • 7 football members in 2025 with return of Maine Maritime.
8. ↑ 3 members in 2024 with loss of Anna Maria and Castleton.
   • 1 member in 2025 with loss of Alfred State and Dean.
9. ↑ 9 full members with Elmira, Houghton, Keuka, Nazareth, and Russell Sage as non-football members; 7 football members with SUNY Brockport, SUNY Cortland, and SUNY Morrisville as football-only affiliates.
   • 11 full members and 8 football members in 2024 with addition of Hilbert in football and non-football SUNY Brockport and SUNY Geneseo.
10. ↑ 14 members in 2024 with loss of Anna Maria and Johnson & Wales.
11. ↑ 10 full members, 8 football members.
    • 10 full members and 7 football members in 2024 with addition of Berea and loss of Defiance.
12. ↑ 3 all-sports independents (non-football), 2 football independents (which are members of non-football conferences).
    • 2 all-sports independents in 2024 with loss of Asbury.
13. ↑ 10 members with Drew, Elizabethtown, Goucher, and Scranton as non-football members and 7 football with Keystone as a football-only affiliate.
14. ↑ 12 full members, 7 football members with Buffalo State as a football-only affiliate.
15. ↑ 8 full members with MCLA and Salem State as non-football members, 9 football members with Plymouth State, UMass–Dartmouth, and Western Connecticut State as football affiliates.
    • 9 full members and 11 football members in 2024 with addition of Anna Maria and football-only Castleton.
16. ↑ 9 full members, 7 football members.
17. ↑ The MAC is actually an umbrella organization of three conferences. Eight schools are members of the MAC Commonwealth and eight others are members of the MAC Freedom. Each league conducts competition in the same set of 14 sports, not including football. The third league, called the Middle Atlantic Conference, combines schools from the MAC Commonwealth and MAC Freedom for 13 other sports, including football.
18. ↑ 16 full members (8 Commonwealth, 8 Freedom) and 10 football members.
19. ↑ 9 full members, 10 football members with Chicago as a football affiliate.
20. ↑ 13 full members, 10 football members.
21. ↑ 11 full members, 10 football members.
22. ↑ 12 full members and 8 football members.
23. ↑ 10 full members with New Jersey City, Ramapo, Rutgers–Newark, Rutgers–Camden, and Stockton as non-football members; 7 football members with Christopher Newport and Salisbury as football affiliates.
24. ↑ 12 full members in 2024 with loss of SUNY Canton, and SUNY Morrisville.
25. ↑ 14 full members, 9 football members with Eureka as a football-only affiliate.
26. ↑ 9 full members, 8 football members.
27. ↑ 15 full members, 8 football members.
    • 9 football members in 2025 with addition of Roanoke.
28. ↑ 26 sports in 2024 with addition of men's volleyball.
29. ↑ 11 full members, 11 football members, with two full members not sponsoring football (Chatham and Franciscan) and two football affiliates (Carnegie Mellon and Case Western Reserve).
30. ↑ 24 sports in 2024 with addition of men's volleyball.
31. ↑ 8 full members, 9 football members with one full member not sponsoring football (Oglethorpe) and two football affiliates (Southwestern and Trinity [TX]).
    • 10 full members in 2025 with Southwestern and Trinity (TX) moving all their other sports from the SCAC.
32. ↑ 9 full members, 6 football members.
33. ↑ 10 full members in 2024 with addition of McMurry and 4 football members planned for the reinstated football league in that year, with full members Austin, Centenary (LA), and McMurry joined by football-only affiliate Lyon.
    • 8 full members in 2025 with losses of Southwestern and Trinity (TX).
    • 6 football members no later than 2026, with the four inaugural football members joined by full members Schreiner (adding football in 2025 or 2026) and Texas Lutheran.
34. ↑ 19 sports in 2024 with reinstatement of football.
35. ↑ 10 members in 2024 with loss of SUNY Brockport and SUNY Geneseo, and addition of SUNY Canton and SUNY Morrisville.
36. ↑ In December 2022, the Colonial States Athletic Conference and United East announced their intent to merge effective in 2023–24.^[9] Shortly before the merger took effect, both agreed that the merged league would operate under the United East banner. ^[10]
37. ↑ 18 full members in 2024 with addition of Penn State Brandywine.
38. ↑ 8 full members with Bethany Lutheran, North Central, Northland, and Wisconsin–Superior as non-football members; 6 football members with Greenville, and Westminster (MO) as football-only affiliates.
39. ↑ 10 full members with Mary Baldwin, Meredith, Pfeiffer, Salem College, and William Peace as non-football members; 9 football members with Belhaven, Huntingdon, LaGrange, and Maryville as football-affiliates.

Single-sport conferences

Conference	Nickname	Founded	Members	Sport	Headquarters	Map
Coastal Lacrosse Conference	CLC	2022	6	Men's lacrosse
Continental Volleyball Conference	CVC	2011	9	Men's volleyball	Madison, New Jersey
Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League	MCVL	2014	10	Men's volleyball	Bradenton, Florida
Midwest Lacrosse Conference	MLC	2009	8	Men's lacrosse	Waukesha, Wisconsin
Midwest Women's Lacrosse Conference	MWLC	2010	10	Women's Lacrosse	Waukesha, Wisconsin
New England Collegiate Conference	NECC	2007[lower-alpha 1]	7	Men's volleyball[lower-alpha 2]	Mansfield, Massachusetts
New England Hockey Conference	NEHC	2015	10 (men) 13 (women)	Ice hockey	N/A
Northern Collegiate Hockey Association	NCHA	1981	10 (men) 7 (women)	Ice hockey	Waukesha, Wisconsin
United Volleyball Conference	UVC	2010	8	Men's volleyball	Rochester, New York
United Collegiate Hockey Conference	UCHC	2016	12 (men) 13 (women)	Ice hockey	Danbury, Connecticut

1. ↑ Operated as an all-sports conference from 2007–2023.
2. ↑ Also organizes competition in the non-NCAA esports.

Other sports

These all-sports conferences sponsor sports which do not have D-III championships.

Conference	Nickname	Founded	Members[lower-alpha 1]	Sport	Headquarters	Map
Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference	AMCC	1997	8	Bowling	North Boston, New York
College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin	CCIW	1946	8	Bowling	Naperville, Illinois
Metropolitan Swimming Conference	METS	?	14 (men) 17 (women)	1 (swimming)	?
Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference	WIAC	1913	8	Women's gymnastics	Madison, Wisconsin

1. ↑ Number reflects membership in the sport that lacks a D-III championship, not the total conference membership.

Defunct NCAA conferences

• * - Operated before the NCAA split into divisions in 1955.

In addition to the above, three single-sport conferences that currently participate in NCAA National Collegiate sports (those whose championship events are open to members of more than one NCAA division) and previously operated both men's and women's divisions now operate as women-only leagues.

See also

• List of college athletic conferences in the United States
• List of schools reclassifying their athletic programs to NCAA Division I
• List of NAIA conferences

References