North Atlantic Conference

History

Recent events

Chronological timeline

• 1996 – The North Atlantic Conference was founded as the North Atlantic Women's Conference. Charter members included Bay Path College, Lasell College, Lesley College, the Maine Maritime Academy, the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Wheelock College, beginning the 1996–97 academic year.
• 1999:
• * Mass Pharmacy left the NAWC after the 1998–99 academic year.
• * The NAWC was rebranded as the North Atlantic Conference, while adding men's sports in there, beginning the 1999–2000 academic year.
• * Becker College, Elms College and Mount Ida College joined the NAC in the 1999–2000 academic year.
• 2000 – Simmons College and Western [New England University|Western New England College] joined the NAC as associate members for field hockey in the 2000 fall season.
• 2001:
• * Castleton State College and Johnson State College joined the NAC in the 2001–02 academic year.
• * Husson College, the University of Maine at Farmington and Thomas College joined the NAC as associate members for field hockey in the 2001 fall season.
• 2003 – Husson, UMaine–Farmington and Thomas upgraded their NAC memberships for all sports in the 2003–04 academic year.
• 2004 – Three institutions joined the NAC as associate members, all effective in the 2005 spring season :
• * Daniel Webster College and Emerson College for men's lacrosse
• * and Saint Joseph's College of Maine for baseball
• 2007:
• * Two institutions left the NAC as associate members, both effective after the 2006–07 academic year:
• ** Saint Joseph's for baseball
• ** and Western New England for field hockey
• * Lasell and Mount Ida left the NAC to join the Great Northeast Athletic Conference after the 2006–07 academic year; while both remained in the conference as associate members.
• 2008:
• * Bay Path, Becker, Elms, Lesley and Wheelock left the NAC to form part of the then-newly created New England Collegiate Conference after the 2007–08 academic year.
• * Daniel Webster left the NAC as an associate member for men's lacrosse after the 2008 spring season.
• * Green Mountain College and Lyndon State College joined the NAC in the 2008–09 academic year.
• * Saint Joseph's rejoined the NAC as an associate member in the 2008–09 academic year.
• 2009 – Rivier University joined the NAC as an associate member for field hockey in the 2009 fall season.
• 2010 – Emerson, Mount Ida and Saint Joseph's left the NAC as associate members for men's lacrosse after the 2010 spring season.
• 2011:
• * Colby–Sawyer College and New England College joined the NAC in the 2008–09 academic year.
• * Salem State University joined the NAC as an associate member for men's golf in the 2012 spring season.
• 2012 – The Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts joined the NAC as an associate member for men's golf, men's lacrosse and men's & women's tennis in the 2013 spring season.
• 2014 – Lasell, Rivier, Saint Joseph's and Simmons left the NAC as associate members for field hockey after the 2013 fall season.
• 2017:
• * Two institutions joined the NAC as associate members, both effective in the 2017–18 academic year.
• ** The University of Maine at Presque Isle for men's golf
• ** and the State University of New York at Delhi for men's and women's track & field
• 2018:
• * Four institutions left the NAC to join their future respective primary home conferences, all effective after the 2017–18 academic year:
• ** Castleton to join the Little East Conference ; while it remained in the conference as an associate member for men's golf
• ** Colby–Sawyer to join the GNAC
• ** Green Mountain to join the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics as an Independent within the Association of Independent Institutions
• ** and New England to join the NECC
• * The State University of New York at Canton joined the NAC in the 2018–19 academic year.
• * Two institutions joined the NAC as associate members, both effective in the 2018–19 academic year.
• ** former full member Lesley rejoining for women's tennis
• ** and SUNY Delhi to add men's golf, men's lacrosse, and men's and women's tennis into its NAC associate membership
• 2019 – SUNY Delhi upgraded its NAC membership for all sports in the 2019–20 academic year; although its men's and women's basketball and softball teams would later join for 2020–21.
• 2020:
• * Two institutions left the NAC as associate members, all effective after the 2019–20 academic year.
• ** Castleton, the MCLA and Salem State left the NAC as associate members for men's golf
• ** and Lesley for women's tennis
• * Cazenovia College, the State University of New York at Cobleskill and the State University of New York Polytechnic Institute joined the NAC in the 2020–21 academic year.
• 2022:
• * The MCLA left the NAC as an associate member for men's and women's tennis after the 2022 spring season. The last time those two sports competed were in the 2019–20 and 2020–21 school years respectively. They were later discontinued due to athletic budget cuts at the end of 2021–22.
• 2023:
• * Cazenovia left the NAC after the 2022–23 academic year; as the school ceased operations.
• * Eastern Nazarene College and the State University of New York at Morrisville, with charter member Lesley rejoining, joined the NAC in the 2023–24 academic year.
• 2024 – Four institutions left the NAC to join their future respective primary home conferences, all effective after the 2023–24 academic year:
• * Eastern Nazarene to discontinue its athletics program before ceasing operations on May 2025.
• * SUNY Canton and SUNY Morrisville to the State University of New York Athletic Conference
• * and SUNY Poly to the Empire 8 Athletic Conference
• 2025 – Anna Maria College joined the NAC as an associate member for men's lacrosse in the 2026 spring season.
• 2026 – SUNY Cobleskill and SUNY Delhi will leave the NAC to join the SUNYAC, beginning in the 2026–27 academic year.

Member schools

Current members

Associate members

Former members

Former associate members

Membership timeline

Sports

Championships

• Fall season: men's and women's cross country, field hockey, golf, men's and women's soccer, women's tennis, women's volleyball
• Winter season: men's and women's basketball
• Spring season: baseball, men's lacrosse, softball, men's tennis