Division III is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association

National Collegiate Athletic Association

The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...

 of the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

Membership

The division consists of college

College

A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...

s and universities

University

A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...

 that choose not to offer athletically related financial aid (athletic scholarship

Athletic scholarship

An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university awarded to an individual based predominantly on his or her ability to play in a sport...

s) to their student-athletes. There are 449 member institutions (both full and provisional), making Division III (D-III) the largest of the three divisions sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

D-III schools range in size from less than 500 to over 20,000 students. D-III schools compete in athletics as a non-revenue making, extracurricular activity for students; hence, they may not offer athletic scholarships, they may not redshirt

Redshirt (college sports)

Redshirt is a term used in American college athletics that refers to a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen his or her period of eligibility...

 freshmen for non-medical reasons and they may not use endowments or funds whose primary purpose is to benefit their athletic programs. Also, under NCAA rules, D-III schools "shall not award financial aid to any student on the basis of athletics leadership, ability, participation or performance". Financial aid given to athletes must be awarded under the same procedures as for the general student body, and the proportion of total financial aid given to athletes "shall be closely equivalent to the percentage of student-athletes within the student body."

All Division III schools must field athletes in at least ten sports, with men's and women's competition in a given sport counting as two different sports. In 2012, coeducational schools with more than 1,000 undergraduates must field athletes in at least twelve sports, with at least six all-female teams and at least six teams that are either all-male or mixed-sex. Schools with fewer than 1,000 undergraduates must still field at least five sports in each category. Single-sex schools need only field the required number of sports for the sex which they serve. For all schools regardless of enrollment, at least three sports for each sex must be team sports.

Conferences competing in Division III

• Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference
  Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference
  The Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. Member institutions are located in the northeastern United States in the States of Maryland, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.-Current members:The league currently has...
  
  
• American Southwest Conference
  American Southwest Conference
  The American Southwest Conference is a college athletic conference, founded in 1996, whose member schools compete in the NCAA's Division III. The schools are located in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi...
  
  *
• Atlantic Central Football Conference
  Atlantic Central Football Conference
  The Atlantic Central Football Conference is a college athletic conference which competes in football only in the NCAA Division III...
  
  *
• Capital Athletic Conference
  Capital Athletic Conference
  The Capital Athletic Conference is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. Member institutions are located in the eastern United States in the states of Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Delaware....
  
  
• Centennial Conference
  Centennial Conference
  The Centennial Conference is an athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. Member teams are located in Maryland and Pennsylvania....
  
  *
• City University of New York Athletic Conference
  City University of New York Athletic Conference
  The City University of New York Athletic Conference is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. Its member institutions are all located in New York City and are campuses of the City University of New York...
  
  
• College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin
  College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin
  The College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin is a college athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. Its member teams are located in Illinois and Wisconsin. CCIW schools have won 35 Division III national championships since 1973. The conference was founded in 1946 as the...
  
  *
• Colonial States Athletic Conference
  Colonial States Athletic Conference
  The Colonial States Athletic Conference is an NCAA Division III collegiate athletic conference in the Mid-Atlantic United States. There are currently twelve full member institutions as of 2008. The conference's membership, as with most Middle Atlantic conferences, has been shaken up as a result...
  
  
• Commonwealth Coast Conference
  Commonwealth Coast Conference
  The Commonwealth Coast Conference is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA’s Division III. Member institutions are located in New England in the States of Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island....
  
  
• Eastern Collegiate Football Conference
  Eastern Collegiate Football Conference
  The Eastern Collegiate Football Conference is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA’s Division III. Founded in 2009, it features institutions with teams primarily in other conferences.-Members:-External links:*...
  
  *
• Empire 8 Conference
  Empire 8
  The Empire 8 is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA’s Division III.-Members:Full member institutions include:-Football affiliation:*Springfield College...
  
  *
• Great Northeast Athletic Conference
  Great Northeast Athletic Conference
  The Great Northeast Athletic Conference is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. Member institutions are located in the northeastern United States in the States of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.-Current...
  
  
• Great South Athletic Conference
  Great South Athletic Conference
  The Great South Athletic Conference is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA’s Division III. Member institutions are located in the southeastern United States in the states of Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina.-Current members:The league currently has 9 full...
  
  
• Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference
  Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference
  The Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. Member institutions are located in Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio...
  
  *
• Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
  Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
  The Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference is an College Athletic Conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. As the name implies, member teams are located in the state of Iowa.-History:...
  
  *
• Landmark Conference
  Landmark Conference
  The Landmark Conference is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. Member institutions are located in the eastern United States in the States of Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Washington, D.C....
  
  
• Liberty League
  Liberty League
  The Liberty League is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA’s Division III. Originally founded in 1995 as the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association, was renamed during the summer of 2004 to the current name...
  
  *
• Little East Conference
  Little East Conference
  The Little East Conference is an NCAA Division III intercollegiate athletic conference. The member institutions are located in the U.S...
  
  
• Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference
  Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference
  The Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III...
  
  
• Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association
  Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association
  The Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association is an athletic conference that competes in the NCAA's Division III. The nine teams in the conference are all located in the states of Michigan and Indiana. The Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association was established on March 24, 1888, making...
  
  *
• Middle Atlantic Conference
  Middle Atlantic Corporation
  Founded in 1912, the Middle Atlantic Conferences is an umbrella organization of three athletic conferences which competes in the NCAA's Division III. The 16-member teams are located in the Mid-Atlantic United States....
  
  *
• Midwest Conference
  Midwest Conference
  The Midwest Conference is a college athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. Member institutions are located in the Midwestern United States in the states of Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin...
  
  *
• Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
  Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
  The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference is a college athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. As the name implies, member schools are located in the state of Minnesota...
  
  *
• New England Collegiate Conference
  New England Collegiate Conference
  The New England Collegiate Conference has been the name of two incarnations of collegiate athletic conferences.-Former Division II conference:...
  
  
• New England Football Conference
  New England Football Conference
  The New England Football Conference is an athletic conference which competes in football in the NCAA's Division III. Member teams are located in New England...
  
  *
• New England Small College Athletic Conference
  New England Small College Athletic Conference
  The New England Small College Athletic Conference is an NCAA Division III athletic conference, consisting of eleven highly selective liberal arts colleges and universities located in New England and New York...
  
  *
• New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference
  New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference
  The New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA’s Division III...
  
  
• New Jersey Athletic Conference
  New Jersey Athletic Conference
  The New Jersey Athletic Conference , formerly the New Jersey State Athletic Conference, is a college athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. Full members are located in New Jersey, track-only and football-only members are located in Connecticut and New York.-Member...
  
  *
• North Atlantic Conference
  North Atlantic Conference
  The North Atlantic Conference is an athletic conference, affiliated with the NCAA’s Division III, consisting primarily of small liberal arts colleges throughout the New England states of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont....
  
  
• North Coast Athletic Conference
  North Coast Athletic Conference
  The North Coast Athletic Conference is an NCAA Division III athletic conference composed of schools located in the Midwestern United States. When founded in 1984, the NCAC was a pioneer in gender equality, offering competition in a then-unprecedented ten women's sports...
  
  *
• North Eastern Athletic Conference
  North Eastern Athletic Conference
  The North Eastern Athletic Conference is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. Member institutions are located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States.-Members:...
  
  
• Northern Athletics Conference
  Northern Athletics Conference
  The Northern Athletics Conference is a college athletic conference. It participates in the NCAA's Division III and began its first season in the fall of 2006.-Member schools:-History:...
  
  *
• Northwest Conference
  Northwest Conference
  The Northwest Conference is an athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. Member teams are located in the states of Oregon and Washington.-History:...
  
  *
• Ohio Athletic Conference
  Ohio Athletic Conference
  The Ohio Athletic Conference was formed in 1902 and is the third oldest athletic conference in the United States. It competes in the NCAA's Division III. Through the years, 31 schools have been members of the OAC. The enrollments of the current ten member institutions range from 1,100 to 4,500...
  
  *
• Old Dominion Athletic Conference
  Old Dominion Athletic Conference
  The Old Dominion Athletic Conference is an NCAA Division III athletic conference. Its member schools are located primarily in Virginia, with other members in North Carolina and Washington, DC. Only the American Southwest Conference in Texas is larger in Division III. -History:The conference was...
  
  *
• Presidents' Athletic Conference
  Presidents' Athletic Conference
  The Presidents' Athletic Conference is an athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. Member teams are private, liberal arts institutions of higher learning located in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Kentucky....
  
  *
• St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference*
• Skyline Conference
  Skyline Conference
  The Mountain States Conference, also known as the Skyline Conference, was a college athletic conference based in the Western United States. The league was established in 1938 when the seven charter members pulled out of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.From 1938 to 1946, the conference was...
  
  
• Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
  Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
  The Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference is a college athletic conference that operates in the NCAA's Division III. The conference was founded in 1915 and it consists of twelve small private schools which are located in Southern California and organized into nine athletic programs...
  
  *
• Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference
  Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference
  The Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference , founded in 1962, is an athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. Member institutions are located in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Texas...
  
  *
• State University of New York Athletic Conference
  State University of New York Athletic Conference
  The State University of New York Athletic Conference is an NCAA Division III athletics conference consisting of schools in the State University of New York system...
  
  
• University Athletic Association
  University Athletic Association
  The University Athletic Association is an American athletic conference that competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division III. Member teams are located in Georgia, Illinois, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Ohio, and New York...
  
  *
• Upper Midwest Athletic Conference
  Upper Midwest Athletic Conference
  The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference is a college-level athletic conference. The UMAC is a member-conference of the NCAA Division III. The UMAC was formerly affiliated with the NAIA. Corey Borchardt is the current commissioner of the UMAC, and was appointed to the position in 2008...
  
  *
• USA South Athletic Conference
  USA South Athletic Conference
  The USA South Athletic Conference is an athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III...
  
  *
• Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
  Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
  The Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference is a college athletic conference that competes in the NCAA's Division III. As the name implies, member teams are located in the state of Wisconsin, although there are three associate members from Minnesota and one from Michigan...
  
  *

* Conference sponsors football

Seven of the 12 schools in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference—all of the members east of the Mississippi

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

, plus Hendrix College

Hendrix College

Hendrix College is a private liberal arts college located in Conway, Arkansas. The student body averages around 1,400 and currently represents forty-three states and fourteen foreign countries. In US News and World Report's America's Best Colleges, Hendrix is ranked annually in the top tier of...

 in Arkansas

Arkansas

Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...

—will leave in July 2012 to form a new D-III conference to be known as the Southern Athletic Association

Southern Athletic Association

The Southern Athletic Association is a planned athletic conference, scheduled to begin play in 2012 in NCAA Division III. It was formed in 2011 by seven members of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference and Independent Berry College.-Member institutions:...

. These departures will leave the SCAC with four members in Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

 and one in Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

; that conference will add a Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

 school in 2012.

Division III schools with Division I programs

13 D-III schools currently play up to the Division I level in one or two sports (one for each gender maximum).

Seven of them are grandfathered

Grandfather clause

Grandfather clause is a legal term used to describe a situation in which an old rule continues to apply to some existing situations, while a new rule will apply to all future situations. It is often used as a verb: to grandfather means to grant such an exemption...

 schools which have traditionally competed at the highest level of a particular sport prior to the institution of the Division classifications in 1971. These schools are allowed to offer athletic scholarships in their Division I sports to remain competitive with their opponents.

• Clarkson University
  Clarkson University
  -The Clarkson School:The Clarkson School, a special division of Clarkson University, was founded in 1978 as a unique educational opportunity. The School offers students an early entrance opportunity into college, replacing the typical senior year of high school with a year of college...
  
   (men's and women's ice hockey
  Ice hockey
  Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
  
  )
• Colorado College
  Colorado College
  The Colorado College is a private liberal arts college in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States, in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. It was founded in 1874 by Thomas Nelson Haskell...
  
   (men's ice hockey and women's soccer)
• Hartwick College
  Hartwick College
  Hartwick College is a non-denominational, private, four-year liberal arts and sciences college located in Oneonta, New York, in the United States. The institution was founded as Hartwick Seminary in 1797 through the will of John Christopher Hartwick, and is now known as Hartwick College...
  
   (men's soccer and women's water polo
  Water polo
  Water polo is a team water sport. The playing team consists of six field players and one goalkeeper. The winner of the game is the team that scores more goals. Game play involves swimming, treading water , players passing the ball while being defended by opponents, and scoring by throwing into a...
  
  )
• Johns Hopkins University
  Johns Hopkins University
  The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
  
   (men's and women's
  Women's lacrosse
  Women's lacrosse, sometimes shortened to wlax or lax, is a sport played with twelve players on each team. Originally played by the indigenous peoples of the Americas, the first tribe to play it was the Hauser tribe, of the Great Plains. The modern women's game was introduced in 1890 at the St...
  
   lacrosse
  Lacrosse
  Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...
  
  )
• Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
  Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
  Stephen Van Rensselaer established the Rensselaer School on November 5, 1824 with a letter to the Rev. Dr. Samuel Blatchford, in which van Rensselaer asked Blatchford to serve as the first president. Within the letter he set down several orders of business. He appointed Amos Eaton as the school's...
  
  , (men's and women's ice hockey)
• Rutgers-Newark
  Rutgers-Newark
  Rutgers University in Newark is one of three campuses of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, the eighth oldest college in the United States and a member of the Association of American Universities...
  
   (men's volleyball
  Volleyball
  Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
  
  )
• St. Lawrence University
  St. Lawrence University
  St. Lawrence University is a four-year liberal arts college located in the village of Canton in Saint Lawrence County, New York, United States. It has roughly 2300 undergraduate and 100 graduate students, about equally split between male and female....
  
   (men's and women's ice hockey)

(SUNY Oneonta

State University of New York at Oneonta

The State University of New York College at Oneonta is a four-year liberal arts college in Oneonta, New York, United States, with approximately 5,800 students. The College offers many bachelor's degrees and a number of graduate degrees...

 was previously grandfathered in men's soccer but dropped down to Division III in 2006.)

The other six schools choose to play up in one sport for men and optionally one sport for women, but they are not grandfathered and thus are not allowed to offer athletic scholarships. Academic-based and need-based financial aid is still available.

• Franklin and Marshall College (men's wrestling)
• Hobart College
  Hobart and William Smith Colleges
  Hobart and William Smith Colleges, located in Geneva, New York, are together a liberal arts college offering Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts in Teaching degrees. In athletics, however, the two schools compete with separate teams, known as the Hobart Statesmen and the...
  
   (men's lacrosse)
• Lawrence University
  Lawrence University
  Lawrence University is a selective, private liberal arts college with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, in Appleton, Wisconsin. Lawrence University is known for its rigorous academic environment. Founded in 1847, the first classes were held on November 12, 1849...
  
   (fencing)
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
  
   (men's and women's rowing)
• Rochester Institute of Technology
  Rochester Institute of Technology
  The Rochester Institute of Technology is a private university, located within the town of Henrietta in metropolitan Rochester, New York, United States...
  
   (men's ice hockey)
• Union College
  Union College
  Union College is a private, non-denominational liberal arts college located in Schenectady, New York, United States. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents. In the 19th century, it became the "Mother of Fraternities", as...
  
    (men's and women's ice hockey)

Football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 and basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 may not be grandfathered Division I programs because their revenue-enhancing potential would give them an unfair advantage over other Division III schools. In 1992, several Division III schools who competed at the Division I level in basketball, most notably Georgetown University

Georgetown University

Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...

, were forced to upgrade the rest of their athletic program to a Division I level.

The NCAA currently has a moratorium in place on schools moving divisions, including Division III schools playing up to Division I.

Recent changes

In 2003, concerned about the direction of the Division, the Division III Presidents' Council, led by Middlebury College

Middlebury College

Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college located in Middlebury, Vermont, USA. Founded in 1800, it is one of the oldest liberal arts colleges in the United States. Drawing 2,400 undergraduates from all 50 United States and over 70 countries, Middlebury offers 44 majors in the arts,...

 President John McCardell, acted to limit the length of the traditional and non-traditional seasons, eliminate redshirting, and redefine a season of participation, all of which were approved by a majority vote of the membership.

An additional proposal which would have eliminated the ability of the institutions listed above to offer athletic scholarships was rejected, though rules limiting the exception to only those schools currently offering D-I programs was approved. These actions took place at the January 2004 NCAA Convention.

External links

• NCAA official website
• NCAA official sports website
• D3football.com, covers Division III football
• D3Wrestle.com, covers Division III wrestling
• D3hoops.com, covers Division III men's and women's basketball
• D3baseball.com, covers Division III baseball
• D3soccer.com, covers Division III men's and women's soccer
• D3soccer.net, covers Division III men's soccer
• D3Soccer Message Board, covers Division III men's and women's soccer
• D3Kicks.com, covers Division III soccer
• USCHO.com, covers Division III men's and women's ice hockey
• D3swimming.com, covers Division III swimming