America East Conference
The America East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I whose members are located in the Northeastern United States. The conference is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.
Founded in 1979, the conference has nine core members including eight public research universities, three of which - the University of Maine, the University of New Hampshire, and the University of Vermont - are the flagship universities of their states. Two non-flagship university centers of the State University of New York - the University at Albany and Binghamton University - are in the conference along with UMass Lowell, New Jersey Institute of Technology and Bryant University. Bryant is the latest institution to join the conference in 2022, when Stony Brook University and the University of Hartford departed the conference. It is the only private university among the core members.
The America East Conference sponsors 18 sports.
History
The America East Conference was founded as the Eastern College Athletic Conference-North, a men's basketball-only athletic conference, in 1979. The conference was known as the Eastern College Athletic Conference-North from 1979 to 1988 and the North Atlantic Conference from 1988 to 1996. The charter members were the University of Rhode Island, the College of the Holy Cross, Canisius College, Niagara University, Colgate University, Northeastern University, Boston University, the University of Maine, the University of New Hampshire and the University of Vermont.The America East Conference made history during the 2018 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament on March 16, 2018, when No. 16 seed UMBC defeated No. 1 seed Virginia, marking the first time in men's tournament history that a No. 1 seed had lost to a No. 16 seed.
Many other events have occurred since its formation:
- Rhode Island left in 1980.
- Holy Cross left in 1983.
- Siena College joined in 1984.
- The University of Hartford joined in 1985.
- The conference became an all-sports conference, named the North Atlantic Conference, in the 1988–89 season, only for Canisius, Niagara and Siena to leave after the spring of 1989 to join the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
- Colgate left in 1990 to join the Patriot League.
- The University of Delaware and Drexel University joined in 1991.
- Hofstra University joined in 1994.
- Towson University joined in 1995.
- On July 1, 1996, the conference's name changed to its present name, the America East Conference.
- During 2001, Delaware, Drexel, Hofstra and Towson left to join the Colonial Athletic Association while the University at Albany, Binghamton University and Stony Brook University replaced them.
- The University of Maryland, Baltimore County soon joined in 2003.
- Northeastern left in 2005 to join the CAA.
- Boston University left to join the Patriot League on July 1, 2013, while the University of Massachusetts Lowell joined from Division II.
- In 2020, New Jersey Institute of Technology joined from the ASUN Conference.
- In March 2022, Bryant University accepted an invitation to join the America East Conference, leaving the Northeast Conference. This move took effect on July 1.
- On July 1, 2022, Stony Brook University left to join the all-sports Colonial Athletic Association ; it had been a member of the CAA's technically separate football arm, CAA Football, since 2013. Then-current field hockey associate Monmouth left to join the CAA, which sponsors that sport.
- In 2022, the University of Hartford left the conference during its transition down to Division III. At the time this move was announced, the school's departure from the conference had been planned for 2023, but this was eventually changed to 2022.
Several media reports indicated that Hartford's last year in the American East Conference would be the 2021–22 season.
This was confirmed on June 21, 2022, when the Commonwealth Coast Conference announced that it would be Hartford's partner in the school's reclassification process, with the Hawks joining that league effective in 2023–24. Hartford played most of its sports in the 2022–23 season as a D-I independent.
At the time, Hartford was the only private university in the conference; this status transferred to Bryant when it joined in July 2022.
On July 20, 2022, the conference announced that Merrimack College would join as a men's lacrosse member for the 2022–23 season.
Members
Current full members
Associate members
One school currently holds associate membership:| Institution | Location | Founded | Joined | Enrollment | Nickname | Colors | AmEast sport | Primary |
| Virginia Military Institute | Lexington, Virginia | 1839 | 2017–18 | 1,653 | Keydets | men's swimming & diving women's swimming & diving | SoCon |
;Notes:
Former full members
Former associate members
Eight schools have had single-sport membership in the past. Three of these, Fairfield, Monmouth, and Providence, moved their America East sports into their all-sports conferences. Another such school, NJIT, left when it joined a conference that sponsored its America East sport, but returned as a full member in July 2020. Pacific dropped its America East sport following the 2018–19 academic year due to budget cuts. Merrimack College dropped its America East sport following the 2023–24 academic year when the school joined the MAAC. Both Stanford and Cal moved their America East sports into the ACC following the 2023–24 academic year when both of the schools joined the conference.Membership timeline
DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:1979 till:2029
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
PlotArea = right:20 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<#
Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb
id:line value:black
id:bg value:white
id:Full value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports
id:FullxF value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football
id:AssocF value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only
id:AssocOS value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in some sports, but not all
id:OtherC1 value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference
id:OtherC2 value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference where OtherC1 has already been used, to distinguish the two
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bar:1 color:AssocF from:1979 till:1980 text:Rhode Island
bar:1 shift: color:OtherC1 from:1980 till:end text:A-10
bar:2 color:AssocF from:1979 till:1983 text:Holy Cross
bar:2 shift: color:OtherC1 from:1983 till:1990 text:MAAC
bar:2 color:OtherC2 from:1990 till:end text:Patriot
bar:3 color:AssocF from:1979 till:1988 text:Canisius
bar:3 color:FullxF from:1988 till:1989 text:
bar:3 color:OtherC1 from:1989 till:end text:MAAC
bar:4 color:AssocF from:1979 till:1988 text:Niagara
bar:4 color:FullxF from:1988 till:1989 text:
bar:4 color:OtherC1 from:1989 till:end text:MAAC
bar:5 color:AssocF from:1979 till:1988 text:Colgate
bar:5 color:FullxF from:1988 till:1990 text:
bar:5 color:OtherC1 from:1990 till:end text:Patriot
bar:6 color:AssocF from:1979 till:1988 text:Northeastern
bar:6 color:FullxF from:1988 till:2005 text:
bar:6 color:OtherC1 from:2005 till:end text:CAA
bar:7 color:AssocF from:1979 till:1988 text:Boston University
bar:7 color:FullxF from:1988 till:2013 text:
bar:7 color:OtherC1 from:2013 till:end text:Patriot
bar:8 color:AssocF from:1979 till:1988 text:Maine
bar:8 color:FullxF from:1988 till:end text:
bar:9 color:AssocF from:1979 till:1988 text:New Hampshire
bar:9 color:FullxF from:1988 till:end text:
bar:10 color:AssocF from:1979 till:1988 text:Vermont
bar:10 color:FullxF from:1988 till:end text:
bar:11 color:OtherC1 from:1979 till:1981 text:Ind.
bar:11 color:OtherC2 from:1981 till:1984 text:NEC
bar:11 color:AssocF from:1984 till:1988 text:Siena
bar:11 color:FullxF from:1988 till:1989 text:
bar:11 color:OtherC1 from:1989 till:end text:MAAC
bar:12 color:OtherC1 from:1979 till:1984 text:D-II Ind.
bar:12 color:AssocF from:1984 till:1988 text:Hartford
bar:12 color:FullxF from:1988 till:2022 text:
bar:12 color:OtherC1 from:2022 till:2023 text:Ind.
bar:12 color:OtherC2 from:2023 till:end text:CCC / CNE
bar:13 color:OtherC1 from:1979 till:1991 text:ECC
bar:13 color:FullxF from:1991 till:2001 text:Delaware
bar:13 color:OtherC1 from:2001 till:2025 text:CAA
bar:13 color:OtherC2 from:2025 till:end text:CUSA
bar:14 color:OtherC1 from:1979 till:1991 text:ECC
bar:14 color:FullxF from:1991 till:2001 text:Drexel
bar:14 color:OtherC1 from:2001 till:end text:CAA
bar:15 color:OtherC1 from:1979 till:1994 text:ECC
bar:15 color:FullxF from:1994 till:2001 text:Hofstra
bar:15 color:OtherC1 from:2001 till:end text:CAA
bar:16 color:OtherC1 from:1979 till:1981 text:CAA
bar:16 shift:-1 color:OtherC2 from:1981 till:1982 text:NEC
bar:16 shift:10 color:OtherC1 from:1982 till:1992 text:ECC
bar:16 color:OtherC2 from:1992 till:1995 text:Big South
bar:16 color:FullxF from:1995 till:2001 text:Towson State/Towson
bar:16 shift:60 color:OtherC1 from:2001 till:end text:CAA
bar:17 color:OtherC1 from:1979 till:1987 text:SUNYAC
bar:17 color:OtherC2 from:1987 till:1995 text:D-III Ind.
bar:17 color:OtherC1 from:1995 till:1999 text:NECC
bar:17 color:OtherC2 from:1999 till:2001 text:Ind.
bar:17 color:FullxF from:2001 till:end text:Albany
bar:18 color:OtherC1 from:1979 till:1997 text:SUNYAC
bar:18 shift:-20 color:OtherC2 from:1997 till:1998 text:D-III Ind.
bar:18 color:OtherC1 from:1998 till:2000 text:NECC
bar:18 color:OtherC2 from:2000 till:2001 text:Ind.
bar:18 color:FullxF from:2001 till:end text:Binghamton
bar:19 color:OtherC1 from:1979 till:1989 text:D-III Ind.
bar:19 color:OtherC2 from:1989 till:1994 text:Skyline
bar:19 shift:-20 color:OtherC1 from:1994 till:1995 text:D-III Ind.
bar:19 color:OtherC2 from:1995 till:1999 text:NECC
bar:19 color:OtherC1 from:1999 till:2001 text:Ind.
bar:19 color:FullxF from:2001 till:2022 text:Stony Brook
bar:19 color:OtherC1 from:2022 till:end text:CAA
bar:20 color:OtherC1 from:1979 till:1986 text:D-II Ind.
bar:20 color:OtherC2 from:1986 till:1990 text:Ind.
bar:20 color:OtherC1 from:1990 till:1992 text:ECC
bar:20 color:OtherC2 from:1992 till:1998 text:Big South
bar:20 color:OtherC1 from:1998 till:2003 text:NEC
bar:20 color:FullxF from:2003 till:end text:UMBC
bar:21 color:OtherC1 from:1979 till:1981 text:D-II Ind.
bar:21 color:OtherC2 from:1981 till:2000 text:NECC
bar:21 color:OtherC1 from:2000 till:2013 text:NE-10
bar:21 color:FullxF from:2013 till:end text:UMass Lowell
bar:22 color:OtherC1 from:1979 till:1990 text:D-III Ind.
bar:22 color:OtherC2 from:1990 till:1997 text:Skyline
bar:22 color:OtherC1 from:1997 till:2000 text:ECC
bar:22 color:OtherC2 from:2000 till:2006 text:CACC
bar:22 color:OtherC1 from:2006 till:2008 text:Ind.
bar:22 color:OtherC2 from:2008 till:2013 text:GWC
bar:22 shift:60 color:OtherC1 from:2015 till:2020 text:ASUN
bar:22 shift:-15 color:AssocOS from:2013 till:2015 text:
bar:22 color:FullxF from:2020 till:end text:NJIT
bar:23 color:OtherC1 from:1979 till:1980 text:NAIA Ind.
bar:23 shift:45 color:OtherC2 from:1980 till:2008 text:NE-10
bar:23 color:OtherC1 from:2008 till:2022 text:NEC
bar:23 color:FullxF from:2022 till:end text:Bryant
bar:N color:blue from:1979 till:1988 text:ECAC North
bar:N color:powderblue from:1988 till:1996 text:North Atlantic
bar:N color:blue from:1996 till:end text:America East
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text:^"America East Conference Membership History"
- > If the chart uses more than one bar color, add a legend by selecting the appropriate fields from the following six options Leave a blank line after the end of the timeline, then add a line with the selected values from the list, separated by a space. <#