NCAA Division I independent schools
NCAA Division I independent schools are four-year institutions that compete in college athletics at the NCAA Division I level, but do not belong to an established athletic conference for a particular sport. These schools may however still compete as members of an athletic conference in other sports. A school may also be fully independent, and not belong to any athletic conference for any sport at all. The reason for independent status varies among institutions, but it is frequently because the school's primary athletic conference does not sponsor a particular sport.
Full independents
There are no schools competing as a full independent for the 2025-26 season. The most recent full independent, Chicago State, joined the Northeast Conference after the conclusion of the 2023-24 season.Recent independents
| Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Nickname | Joined | Left | Colors | Current conference |
| Chicago State University | Chicago, Illinois | 1867 | Public | 2620 | Cougars | 1984; 2006; 2022 | 1993; 2009; 2024 | Northeast (NEC) | |
| Denver, Colorado | 1864 | Nonsectarian | 14,130 | Pioneers | 1962; 1998 | 1979; 1999 | Summit | ||
| West Hartford, Connecticut | 1877 | Nonsectarian | 6,792 | Hawks | 2022 | 2023 | C. New England (CNE) | ||
| Newark, New Jersey | 1881 | Public | 11,901 | Highlanders | 2006; 2013 | 2008; 2015 | America East (AmEast) | ||
| Oakland University | Rochester, Michigan | 1957 | Public | 20,519 | Golden Grizzlies | 1997 | 1998 | Horizon | |
| Wright State University | Fairborn, Ohio | 1964 | Public | 17,074 | Raiders | 1987 | 1991 | Horizon |
;Notes:
Baseball
One school is competing as an independent in baseball for the 2026 spring season. Oregon State announced that it would be competing as a baseball independent after its home conference, the Pac-12, collapsed following the 2023-24 season.| Institution | Founded | First season | Location | Type | Enrollment | Nickname | Primary conference |
| Oregon State University | 1868 | 1907 | Corvallis, Oregon | Public | 37,121 | Beavers | West Coast (WCC) |
Bowling
Bowling, like beach volleyball, is currently a women-only sport at the NCAA level that holds a single national championship open to all NCAA members. As of the 2025-26 season, seven bowling programs compete as independents.| Institution | Location | Founded | Type | Enrollment | Nickname | Primary conference |
| Baldwin Wallace University | Berea, Ohio | 1845 | Private | 2,592 | Yellow Jackets | Ohio (OAC) |
| Edgewood University | Madison, Wisconsin | 1927 | Private | 1,570 | Eagles | Northern (NACC) |
| Merrimack College | North Andover, Massachusetts | 1947 | Private | 3,726 | Warriors | Metro Atlantic (MAAC) |
| Mount St. Mary's University | Emmitsburg, Maryland | 1808 | Private | 1,889 | Mountaineers | Metro Atlantic (MAAC) |
| Rockford University | Rockford, Illinois | 1847 | Private | 1,181 | Regents | Northern (NACC) |
| Western Illinois University | Macomb, Illinois | 1899 | Public | 7,643 | Leathernecks | Ohio Valley (OVC) |
| Whitewater, Wisconsin | 1868 | Public | 11,722 | Warhawks | Wisconsin (WIAC) |
;Notes:
Field hockey
One school will be a Division I independent in the upcoming 2025 field hockey season. Queens University of Charlotte began a transition from NCAA Division II to Division I in July 2022, joining the Atlantic Sun Conference. The ASUN does not sponsor field hockey, and Queens has yet to announce a future field hockey affiliation for its program.| Institution | Location | Founded | Type | Enrollment | Nickname | Primary conference |
| Queens University of Charlotte | Charlotte, North Carolina | 1857 | Private | 1,740 | Royals | Atlantic Sun (ASUN) |
Football
Football Bowl Subdivision
As of the current 2025 college football season, two NCAA Division I FBS schools are football independents. The ranks of FBS independents dropped by one when UMass became a full member of the Mid-American Conference in 2025.| Institution | Founded | First season | Location | Type | Enrollment | Nickname | Primary conference |
| 1842 | 1887 | Notre Dame, Indiana | Private | 12,179 | Fighting Irish | Atlantic Coast (ACC) | |
| 1881 | 1896 | Storrs, Connecticut | Public | 32,257 | Huskies | Big East |
;Notes:
Football Championship Subdivision
As of the 2025 season, two schools, Merrimack and Sacred Heart, are playing as FCS independents. Both left the football-sponsoring Northeast Conference for the non-football Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference at the end of the 2023-24 school year. Sacred Heart will become a member of CAA Football beginning in 2026.| Institution | Founded | First season | Location | Type | Enrollment | Nickname | Primary conference |
| Merrimack College | 1947 | 1996 | North Andover, Massachusetts | Private | 3,726 | Warriors | Metro Atlantic (MAAC) |
| Sacred Heart University | 1963 | 1991 | Fairfield, Connecticut | Private | 5,974 | Pioneers | Metro Atlantic (MAAC) |
Ice hockey
Men
There are currently six NCAA Division I independents in men's ice hockey - the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the University of Alaska Anchorage, Lindenwood University, Long Island University, and Stonehill College.Alaska became a men's independent after the 2020-21 season due to the demise of its former league, the men's side of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. The seven Midwestern members of the men's WCHA left to reestablish the Central Collegiate Hockey Association without the WCHA's three geographic outliers-the two Alaska schools, along with Alabama-Huntsville. Of these three schools, Alaska was the only one that did not initially drop hockey.
Alaska-Anchorage's hockey program was suspended in 2020 by the University of Alaska System due to a reduction in state funding, along with the skiing and gymnastics programs. The 2020-21 season was set to be its last, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they did not end up playing that season either. The Alaska Board of Regents told the hockey program they would be reinstated if they were able to collect $3 million in donations and fundraising, so the team was on hiatus for both the 2020-21 and 2021-22 season while its future was uncertain. Ultimately, the money was raised, and the Seawolves were reinstated for the 2022-23 season, but due to the WCHAs aforementioned disbanding, they resumed play as an independent alongside the Nanooks.
LIU announced in late April 2020 that it would launch varsity men's hockey for the 2020-21 season. The Sharks have yet to announce a conference home, but played their first season as a scheduling partner of Atlantic Hockey.
In 2021–22, Lindenwood fielded two separate men's club teams, each playing at a different level of the American Collegiate Hockey Association, which governs the sport at club level. On March 23, 2022, Lindenwood announced that it would launch a Division I men's varsity program starting in the 2022-23 season, while maintaining its ACHA program. This announcement came shortly after the school announced it was starting a transition from Division II to Division I in July 2022, joining the non-hockey Ohio Valley Conference.
On April 5, 2022, Stonehill, then a member of the D-II Northeast-10 Conference, announced it was joining the Northeast Conference that July, starting its own transition to D-I. Before this announcement, Stonehill had been one of seven NE-10 members that played men's ice hockey under Division II regulations, despite the NCAA not sponsoring a championship event at that level.
Neither Lindenwood nor Stonehill has announced a conference home for its men's hockey program.
| Institution | Location | Founded | Type | Enrollment | Nickname | Joined | Primary conference |
| Fairbanks, Alaska | 1917 | Public | 8,336 | Nanooks | 2021 | Great Northwest (GNAC) | |
| Anchorage, Alaska | 1954 | Public | 6,813 | Seawolves | 2022 | Great Northwest (GNAC) | |
| Lindenwood University | , Missouri | 1827 | Private | 6,491 | Lions | 2022 | Ohio Valley (OVC) |
| Long Island University | Brooklyn and Brookville, New York | 1926 | Private | 15,197 | Sharks | 2020 | Northeast (NEC) |
| Stonehill College | Easton, Massachusetts | 1946 | Private | 2,500 | Skyhawks | 2022 | Northeast (NEC) |
Soccer
Men
One school is expected to be independent in the next 2025 men's soccer season. The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley was previously an affiliate member of the Western Athletic Conference for men's soccer; however, their affiliate membership was not renewed for the 2025 season. UTRGV will join the Ohio Valley Conference as a men's soccer affiliate beginning with the 2026 season.| Institution | Location | Founded | Type | Enrollment | Nickname | Joined | Primary conference |
| University of Texas Rio Grande Valley | Edinburg, Texas | 2015 | Public | 32,419 | Vaqueros | 2025 | Southland (SLC) |
;Notes
Women
The most recent departure from the independent ranks was Delaware State, who joined the Northeast Conference as an affiliate in women's soccer in 2023.| Institution | Location | Founded | Type | Enrollment | Nickname | Joined | Primary conference |
| South Carolina State University | Orangeburg, South Carolina | 1896 | Public | 3,000 | Lady Bulldogs | 2013 | Mid-Eastern (MEAC) |
Volleyball
Men's (indoor)
Men's volleyball has a truncated divisional structure in which members of both Division I and Division II compete under identical scholarship limits for a single national championship. Eight men's volleyball programs play as independents; all but one are D-II members.| Institution | Location | Founded | Type | Enrollment | Nickname | Primary conference |
| Barry University | Miami Shores, Florida | 1940 | Private | 6,958 | Buccaneers | Sunshine State (SSC) |
| Catawba College | Salisbury, North Carolina | 1851 | Private | 1,172 | Indians | South Atlantic (SAC) |
| Lincoln Memorial University | Harrogate, Tennessee | 1897 | Private | 2,579 | Railsplitters | South Atlantic (SAC) |
| Merrimack College | North Andover, Massachusetts | 1947 | Private | 3,726 | Warriors | Metro Atlantic (MAAC) |
| Bayamón, Puerto Rico | 1971 | Public | 5,014 | Cowboys | D-II Independent | |
| Mayagüez, Puerto Rico | 1911 | Public | 13,146 | Tarzans | D-II Independent | |
| San Juan, Puerto Rico | 1903 | Public | 18,653 | Gallitos | D-II Independent | |
| Tusculum University | Tusculum, Tennessee | 1794 | Private | 2,053 | Pioneers | South Atlantic (SAC) |
;Notes:
Women's (beach)
Beach volleyball, currently a women-only sport at the NCAA level, holds a single national championship open to members of all three NCAA divisions. The following programs will compete as independents in the 2025 spring season.;Notes:
Wrestling
As of the current 2024-25 season, one school is a Division I independent in wrestling. Mercyhurst University began a transition from NCAA Division II to Division I in July 2024, joining the Northeast Conference. However, the NEC does not sponsor men's wrestling, and Mercyhurst has yet to announce a future affiliation for its program.One program previously competed as an independent in the most recent 2023-24 season. Morgan State University added a wrestling team for the 2023-24 season, becoming the only HBCU to field the sport at the Division I level. However, their primary conference, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, does not sponsor the sport, so they competed as an independent in that sport only. In September 2024, however, it was announced that Morgan State would join the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association, a wrestling-only conference based in the Northeastern United States.
| Institution | Location | Founded | Type | Enrollment | Nickname | Primary conference |
| Mercyhurst University | Erie, Pennsylvania | 1926 | Private | 2,759 | Lakers | Northeast (NEC) |