The North Atlantic Conference (NAC) is an athletic conference, affiliated with the NCAA’s Division III, consisting primarily of small liberal arts

Liberal arts

The term liberal arts refers to those subjects which in classical antiquity were considered essential for a free citizen to study. Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic were the core liberal arts. In medieval times these subjects were extended to include mathematics, geometry, music and astronomy...

 colleges throughout the New England

New England

New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...

 states of Maine

Maine

Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...

, New Hampshire

New Hampshire

New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...

 and Vermont

Vermont

Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...

.

The conference was founded in 1996 when six colleges agreed to form the North Atlantic Women's Conference. It changed to its current name in the fall of 1999. It currently sponsors a total of 15 men's and women's sports played by teams of the 13 institutions therein.

Current members

Full member institutions include:

Institution	Location	Nickname	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Joined
Castleton State College Castleton State College Castleton State College is a public liberal arts college located in Castleton in the U.S. state of Vermont. Castleton has an enrollment of 2000 students and offers more than 30 undergraduate programs as well as master’s degrees in education...	Castleton, VT Castleton, Vermont Castleton is a town in Rutland County, Vermont, United States. Castleton is about to the west of Rutland, and about east of the New York/Vermont state border. The town had a population of 4,717 at the 2010 census. Castleton State College is located there, with roots dating to 1787...	Spartans	1787	Public (Vermont State Colleges Vermont State Colleges The Vermont State Colleges is the U.S. state of Vermont's system of public colleges. It functions as a governance organization, and was created by act of the Vermont General Assembly in 1961... )	2,130	2001
Colby–Sawyer College	New London, NH New London, New Hampshire New London is a town in Merrimack County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 4,397 at the 2010 census.The town center, where 1,415 people resided at the 2010 census, is defined as the New London census-designated place , and is located on a hilltop along New Hampshire Route 114 north...	Chargers	1837	Private	994	2011
Green Mountain College Green Mountain College Green Mountain College is a coeducational private environmental liberal arts college located in Poultney, Vermont, in the USA.Green Mountain is located in the Vermont countryside, at the foot of the Taconic Mountains between the Green Mountains and Adirondacks.The College has a core set of courses...	Poultney, VT Poultney, Vermont Poultney is a village in Rutland County of the U.S. state of Vermont. The village is entirely within the town of Poultney. The population was 1,612 at the 2010 census...	Eagles	1834	Private	759	2008
Husson University	Bangor, ME Bangor, Maine Bangor is a city in and the county seat of Penobscot County, Maine, United States, and the major commercial and cultural center for eastern and northern Maine...	Eagles	1898	Private	2,248	2003
Johnson State College Johnson State College Johnson State College is a small public liberal arts college, founded in 1828 by John Chesamore at Johnson in the U.S. state of Vermont. Johnson's president is Barbara E. Murphy and its board chair is Gary M. Moore.- History and governance :...	Johnson, VT	Badgers	1881	Public (Vermont State Colleges Vermont State Colleges The Vermont State Colleges is the U.S. state of Vermont's system of public colleges. It functions as a governance organization, and was created by act of the Vermont General Assembly in 1961... )	1,916	2001
Lyndon State College Lyndon State College Lyndon State College is a public liberal arts college located at Lyndon Center in Lyndon, Caledonia County in the U.S. state of Vermont. In addition to a range of Bachelor's Degree programs, the college offers a Master's Degree program in Education...	Lyndon, VT Lyndon, Vermont Lyndon is a town in Caledonia County, Vermont, United States. The population was 5,448 at the 2000 census. Lyndon is the home of Lyndon State College. The town contains one incorporated village, Lyndonville and three unincorporated villages: Lyndon, Lyndon Center, and East Lyndon.Lyndon is the...	Hornets	1911	Public (Vermont State Colleges Vermont State Colleges The Vermont State Colleges is the U.S. state of Vermont's system of public colleges. It functions as a governance organization, and was created by act of the Vermont General Assembly in 1961... )	1,412	2008
University of Maine at Farmington University of Maine at Farmington The University of Maine at Farmington, established in 1864 as Maine’s first public institution of higher education, is a public liberal arts college, and a founding member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges offering programs in teacher education, human services and arts and sciences as...	Farmington, ME	Beavers	1863	Public (University of Maine System University of Maine System The University of Maine System is a network of public universities in Maine. Created in 1968 by the Maine State Legislature, the University of Maine System consists of seven universities, each with a distinct mission and regional character... )	2,424	2003
Maine Maritime Academy	Castine, ME Castine, Maine Castine is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States and was once the capital of Acadia . The population was 1,343 at the 2000 census. Castine is the home of Maine Maritime Academy, a four-year institution that graduates officers and engineers for the United States Merchant Marine and marine...	Mariners	1941	Public	858	1996
New England College New England College New England College is a private four-year college in Henniker, New Hampshire, enrolling a total of approximately 1800 undergraduate and graduate students.-History:The school was created in 1946 for students attending college on the G.I...	Henniker, NH Henniker, New Hampshire Henniker is a town in Merrimack County, New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 4,836. Henniker is home to New England College, Ames State Forest and Craney Hill State Forest....	Pilgrims	1946	Private	1,340	2011
Thomas College Thomas College Thomas College is a small, liberal arts college located in Waterville, Maine, U.S. It was founded in 1894 as a non-sectarian, co-educational college dedicated to career training. Thomas specializes in business, education, and technology...	Waterville, ME Waterville, Maine Waterville is a city in Kennebec County, Maine, United States, on the west bank of the Kennebec River. The population was 15,722 at the 2010 census. Home to Colby College and Thomas College, Waterville is the regional commercial, medical and cultural center....	Terriers	1894	Private	975	2003

Associate members

• Daniel Webster College
  Daniel Webster College
  Daniel Webster College is a for-profit proprietary college in Nashua, New Hampshire with a professions focus.-History:The college was established in 1965 as the New England Aeronautical Institute and was associated with Boire Field...
  
  , men's lacrosse
• Simmons College
  Simmons College (Massachusetts)
  Simmons College, established in 1899, is a private women's undergraduate college and private co-educational graduate school in Boston, Massachusetts.-History:Simmons was founded in 1899 with a bequest by John Simmons a wealthy clothing manufacturer in Boston...
  
  , field hockey

Former members

Institution	Affiliation	Years	New Conference	Classification
Mass Pharmacy Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences The Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences is an accredited, private institution located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area of Boston, Massachusetts...	Charter Member	1996–1999	disbanded athletics
St. Joseph's Saint Joseph's College of Maine Saint Joseph’s College of Maine is a Catholic liberal arts college in Standish, Maine that grants bachelor's degrees in a traditional on-campus setting, as well as bachelor’s and master’s degrees via online education. The college’s campus in southern Maine is located on the shores of Sebago Lake,...	Associate; Baseball	1999–2004	GNAC 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...	NCAA Division III
WNEC Western New England College Western New England University is a private university in Springfield, Massachusetts. Academic programs are provided through its College of Arts and Sciences, College of Business, College of Engineering, School of Law, and College of Pharmacy....	Associate; Field Hockey	1997–2006	CCC 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....	NCAA Division III
Lasell Lasell College Lasell College is a private, non-sectarian, coeducational college located in the Newton, Massachusetts village of Auburndale. Lasell offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees in the liberal arts and professional fields of study.-History:...	Charter Member	1996–2007	GNAC 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...	NCAA Division III
Mount Ida Mount Ida College Mount Ida College is a private college in Newton, Massachusetts offering professional undergraduate and graduate degrees.-History:The Mount Ida School for Girls was a private all-female high school founded in 1899 by George Franklin Jewett, named after the hill on which it was located in Newton...	Full Member	1999–2007	GNAC 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...	NCAA Division III
Bay Path Bay Path College Bay Path College is a private undergraduate women's college located in Longmeadow, Massachusetts. The College offers online and on campus Graduate Programs for both men and women, and One-Day-A-Week Saturday College for adult women....	Charter Member	1996–2008	NECC New England Collegiate Conference The New England Collegiate Conference has been the name of two incarnations of collegiate athletic conferences.-Former Division II conference:...	NCAA Division III
Lesley Lesley University Lesley University is a private, coeducational university in Boston, Massachusetts and Cambridge, Massachusetts.The university is a member of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, National Association of Schools of Art and Design, and New England Collegiate Conference.-History:The...	Charter Member	1996–2008	NECC New England Collegiate Conference The New England Collegiate Conference has been the name of two incarnations of collegiate athletic conferences.-Former Division II conference:...	NCAA Division III
Wheelock Wheelock College Wheelock College is a private, coeducational college located in Boston, Massachusetts. The school was founded in 1888 by Lucy Wheelock. The mission of Wheelock College is to primarily improve the lives of children and families...	Charter Member	1996–2008	NECC New England Collegiate Conference The New England Collegiate Conference has been the name of two incarnations of collegiate athletic conferences.-Former Division II conference:...	NCAA Division III
Becker Becker College Becker College is a college in Massachusetts, United States with campuses in Worcester and Leicester. Established in 1887, Becker College is home to two distinct campuses located in Worcester and Leicester, Massachusetts...	Full Member	1999–2008	NECC New England Collegiate Conference The New England Collegiate Conference has been the name of two incarnations of collegiate athletic conferences.-Former Division II conference:...	NCAA Division III
Elms Elms College The College of Our Lady of the Elms, often called Elms College, is a Catholic liberal arts college located in Chicopee, Massachusetts, near Springfield.- History :...	Full Member	1999–2008	NECC New England Collegiate Conference The New England Collegiate Conference has been the name of two incarnations of collegiate athletic conferences.-Former Division II conference:...	NCAA Division III

Championships

The NAC holds championships in the following sports:

• Fall season: men's and women's cross country
  Cross country running
  Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
  
  , field hockey
  Field hockey
  Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
  
  , golf
  Golf
  Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
  
  , men's and women's soccer, women's tennis
  Tennis
  Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
  
  , women'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...
  
  
• Winter season: men's and women's 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...
  
  
• Spring season: baseball
  Baseball
  Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
  
  , men's 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...
  
  , softball
  Softball
  Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
  
  , men's tennis
  Tennis
  Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...