American Collegiate Athletic Association

The American Collegiate Athletic Association (ACAA) was an athletic conference with no regular-season competition. The ACAA competed in the NCAA's Division III. The conference was formed in 2017 primarily by Independent schools in the Northeastern United States, but also had members in Michigan, Wisconsin, and California.[1] The members of the ACAA merged with the Capital Athletic Conference in 2020.

American Collegiate Athletic Association
Established	2017
Dissolved	2020 (merged with Capital Athletic Conference)
Association	NCAA
Division	Division III
Members	7
Sports fielded	8
Region	Northeastern United States, Great Lakes region, California
Locations

History

The ACAA was formally announced as an NCAA Division III conference in February 2017, with plans to start offering official conference championships in the 2017-18 academic year. Unofficial championships were held during the 2016-17 year.[2] Initial members were Alfred State College, Finlandia University, Mills College, State University of New York at Canton, State University of New York at Delhi, Pine Manor College, University of Maine at Presque Isle, and University of Valley Forge. Finlandia, Maine-Presque Isle, Mills, and Pine Manor were formerly members of the Great South Athletic Conference, which disbanded in 2016.

In November 2017, it was announced that SUNY Canton and UMPI departed the ACAA, effective July 1, 2018, and would join the North Atlantic Conference.[3]

In January 2018, it was announced that Mount Mary University of Wisconsin joined the ACAA, effective in the 2018-19 academic year. Mount Mary was formerly an NCAA Division III independent school.[4]

On February 16, 2018, Pratt Institute announced that the college also joined the ACAA, effective in the 2018-19 academic year.[5] Pratt was a member of the Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and the United States Collegiate Athletic Association.

On June 28, 2018, it was announced that Alfred State College was leaving the ACAA, and joined the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference, effective 2019-20.[6]

In July 2018, it was announced that Thomas More College, now known as Thomas More University, joined the ACAA effective immediately for the 2018-19 season. Thomas More was previously a full member of the Presidents' Athletic Conference. Thomas More will re-joined the NAIA and joined the Mid South Conference beginning the fall of 2019.[7]

On November 30, 2018, SUNY Delhi, a North Atlantic Conference associate member in six sports (men's golf, men's lacrosse, men's and women's tennis, and men's and women's track & field), announced that it would leave the ACAA and become a full member of the NAC effective in the fall of 2019. At that time, five additional Delhi sports—men's and women's cross country, men's golf, men's and women's soccer, and women's volleyball—were about to begin NAC play. Three more sports—men's and women's basketball, plus softball—remained in the ACAA until starting NAC play in 2020–21.[8]

On June 6, 2019, it was announced that the University of Valley Forge was leaving the ACAA, and joined the Colonial States Athletic Conference, effective 2020-21.[9]

On July 11, 2019, it was announced that the University of California, Santa Cruz would be joining the ACAA in seven sports, effective 2019-20.[10]

On May 26, 2020, it was announced that the American Collegiate Athletic Association would merge with the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC), later renamed the Coast to Coast Athletic Conference (C2C). The ACAA will have all of its full members join the CAC in the 2020-21 school year. Pine Manor College, which recently entered into a partnership with Boston College, will participate in the Conference for one academic year in four sports: men's soccer, men's basketball, women's basketball and baseball.[11]

Final members

Institution	Location	Founded	Joined	Type	Enrollment (2016)[12]	Nickname
Finlandia University	Hancock, Michigan	1896	2017	Private	507	Lions
Mills College†	Oakland, California	1852	2017	Private	1,345	Cyclones
Mount Mary University†	Milwaukee, Wisconsin	1913	2018	Private	1,209	Blue Angels
Pine Manor College	Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts	1911	2017	Private	419	Gators
Pratt Institute	Brooklyn, New York	1877	2018	Private	4,829	Cannoneers
University of California, Santa Cruz	Santa Cruz, California	1965	2019	Public	19,700	Banana Slugs

† - Women's college, therefore not competing in men's sports.

Departing members

Institution	Location	Founded	Joined	Leaves	Type	Enrollment (2016)[12]	Nickname	Future Conference
University of Valley Forge	Phoenixville, Pennsylvania	1939	2017	2020	Private	877	Patriots	Colonial States Athletic Conference

Former associate members

Institution	Location	Founded	Joined	Left	Type	Nickname	Sport	Primary Conference
State University of New York at Delhi*	Delhi, New York	1913	2019	2020	Public	Broncos	basketball (M); basketball (W); softball	North Atlantic
University of Wisconsin–Whitewater	Whitewater, Wisconsin	1868	2019	2020	Public	Warhawks	soccer (M)	WIAC

• SUNY Delhi was a full member from 2017 to 2019.

Former members

Institution	Location	Founded	Joined	Left	Type	Nickname	Current conference
State University of New York at Canton	Canton, New York	1906	2017	2018	Public	Roos	North Atlantic
University of Maine at Presque Isle	Presque Isle, Maine	1903	2017	2018	Public	Owls	North Atlantic
Alfred State College	Alfred, New York	1908	2017	2019	Public	Pioneers	AMCC
Thomas More University	Crestview Hills, Kentucky	1921	2018	2019	Private	Saints	Mid-South (NAIA)

Sports

School	Men's Basketball	Women's Basketball	Men's Cross Country	Women's Cross Country	Men's Soccer	Women's Soccer	Softball	Women's Volleyball	Total sports
Finlandia									8
Mills†									3
Mount Mary†									5
Pine Manor									8
Pratt									7
Valley Forge									8
UCSC									7
Totals	5+1	6+1	5	7	5+1	7	4+1	7	46+4

† - Women's college, therefore not competing in men's sports.

References

1. "University of Maine at Presque Isle set to join new athletics conference". Bangor Daily News. February 15, 2017. Retrieved November 7, 2017.
2. "New Division III conference approved" D3Sports.com website. Accessed: July 5, 2018.
3. "SUNY Canton to Join NAC for 2018-19" SUNY Canton Athletics website. Accessed: May 22, 2018.
4. "ACAA Welcomes Mount Mary" American Collegiate Athletic Association website. Accessed: July 5, 2018.
5. "NCAA approves Pratt" Archived 2018-03-05 at the Wayback Machine Pratt athletics website. Accessed: March 4, 2018.
6. "Alfred State to Join Alleghany Mountain Collegiate Conference" American Collegiate Athletic Association website. Accessed: July 5, 2018.
7. "Thomas More Joins ACAA Membership" American Collegiate Athletic Association website. Accessed: July 5, 2018.
8. "SUNY Delhi to Join the NAC in 2019" (Press release). North Atlantic Conference. November 30, 2018. Retrieved March 30, 2019.
9. "Valley Forge to Join CSAC in 2020" American Collegiate Athletic Association website. Accessed: June 15, 2019.
10. "UC Santa Cruz finds Conference, joins ACAA for 2019-20" (Press release). University of California, Santa Cruz. July 11, 2019. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
11. "ACAA and Capital Athletic Conference Join Forces" (Press release). American Collegiate Athletic Association. May 26, 2020. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
12. "College Navigator". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved November 7, 2017.