Skyline Conference
The Skyline Conference is an intercollegiate athletic conference based in the New York City area that competes in the NCAA's Division III.
The league was originally chartered on May 16, 1989, as a men's basketball conference and now sponsors 17 sports. The Skyline Conference sponsors baseball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, men's golf, men's and women's lacrosse, men's and women's soccer, softball, men's and women's swimming and diving, men's and women's tennis, and men's and women's volleyball.
Primarily comprising schools from the New York metropolitan area, the Skyline Conference currently has 11 full-time member schools, as well as two part-time members that compete in men's volleyball only.
Prior to the 2007–08 academic year, the league introduced the Skyline Presidents Cup. St. Joseph's won the first three Presidents Cups, followed by Farmingdale State winning in 2010–11. St. Joseph's collected its fourth Presidents Cup in 2011–12, with Farmingdale State regaining the title in both 2012–13 and 2013–14.
History
Recent events
In May 2018, Manhattanville College announced that they would leave the MAC Freedom Conference and return to the Skyline for the 2019–20 academic year. Manhattanville was a charter member of the Skyline before leaving to join the MAC in 2007.On April 22, 2025, New [Jersey City University] announced that it would leave the Skyline as an affiliate member for men's volleyball to join the City University of [New York Athletic Conference] for that sport after the 2025 spring season of the 2024–25 academic year.
Chronological history
- 1989 – On May 16, 1989, the Skyline Conference was founded. Charter members included Manhattanville College, the College of Mount Saint Vincent, the State University of New York at Old Westbury, the State University of New York at Stony Brook and the Merchant Marine Academy">United States Merchant Marine Academy">Merchant Marine Academy, beginning the 1989–90 academic year.
- 1993 – Mount Saint Mary College joined the Skyline in the 1993–94 academic year.
- 1994 – Stony Brook left the Skyline to join the Division II ranks of the National Collegiate Athletic Association as an NCAA D-II Independent after the 1993–94 academic year.
- 1996 – The State University of New York Maritime College joined the Skyline in the 1996–97 academic year.
- 1998 – Yeshiva University joined the Skyline in the 1998–99 academic year.
- 1999 – St. Joseph's College of New York at Long Island joined the Skyline in the 1999–2000 academic year.
- 2000 – Stevens Institute of Technology joined the Skyline in the 2000–01 academic year.
- 2003 – Centenary College of New Jersey and the State University of New York of Farmingdale joined the Skyline in the 2003–04 academic year.
- 2005 – Three institutions joined the Skyline as affiliate members, all effective in the 2006 spring season :
- * Kean University and Montclair State University for men's and women's lacrosse
- * and Stockton University for men's lacrosse
- 2007:
- * Four institutions had left the Skyline to join their respective new home primary conferences, all effective after the 2006–07 academic year:
- ** Centenary to the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference
- ** Manhattanville and Stevens to the MAC Freedom Conference
- ** and U.S. Merchant Marine to the Landmark Conference
- * Bard College, Polytechnic Institute of New York, the State University of New York at Purchase and Sage Colleges">The Sage Colleges">Sage Colleges joined the Skyline in the 2007–08 academic year.
- * Ramapo College joined the Skyline as an affiliate member for women's lacrosse in the 2007 spring season.
- 2011:
- * Bard left the Skyline to join the Liberty League after the 2010–11 academic year.
- * New Jersey City University joined the Skyline as an affiliate member for men's volleyball, all effective in the 2012 spring season :
- 2013 – Kean, Montclair State and Ramapo left the Skyline as affiliate members for women's lacrosse in the 2013 spring season.
- 2014:
- * NYU Poly left the Skyline to discontinue its athletics program as it was merged into New York University after the 2013–14 academic year.
- * Sarah Lawrence College joined the Skyline in the 2014–15 academic year.
- 2015 – St. Joseph's College of New York at Brooklyn joined the Skyline in the 2015–16 academic year.
- 2016 – U.S. Merchant Marine rejoined the Skyline in the 2016–17 academic year.
- 2017:
- * The Sage Colleges left the Skyline to join the Empire 8 after the 2016–17 academic year.
- * Five institutions left the Skyline as affiliate members, all effective after the 2017 spring season :
- ** Kean for men's and women's lacrosse and men's volleyball
- ** Montclair State for men's and women's lacrosse
- ** New Jersey City for men's volleyball
- ** Stockton for men's lacrosse
- ** and Ramapo for women's lacrosse
- 2019:
- * Manhattanville rejoined the Skyline in the 2019–20 academic year.
- * New Jersey City and Ramapo rejoined the Skyline as affiliate members for men's volleyball in the 2020 spring season.
- 2025 – New Jersey City left the Skyline as an affiliate member for men's volleyball to join the City University of New York Athletic Conference after the 2025 spring season.
Member schools
Current members
The Skyline currently has 12 full members, all but five are private schools:| Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Nickname | Joined |
| Riverdale, New York | 1847 | Catholic | 1,918 | Dolphins | 1989 | |
| East Farmingdale, New York | 1912 | Public | 8,162 | Rams | 2003 | |
| Manhattanville University | Purchase, New York | 1841 | Nonsectarian | 2,700 | Valiants | 1989; 2019 |
| Mount Saint Mary College | Newburgh, New York | 1960 | Catholic | 2,556 | Knights | 1994 |
| Purchase, New York | 1967 | Public | 4,379 | Panthers | 2007 | |
| Sarah Lawrence College | Yonkers, New York | 1926 | Nonsectarian | 1,782 | Gryphons | 2014 |
| St. Joseph's University (N.Y.)–Brooklyn | Brooklyn, New York | 1916 | Catholic | 1,261 | Bears | 2015 |
| St. Joseph's University (N.Y.)–Long Island | Patchogue, New York | 1971 | Catholic | 3,893 | Golden Eagles | 1999 |
| Throggs Neck, New York | 1874 | Public | 1,755 | Privateers | 1996 | |
| Old Westbury, New York | 1965 | Public | 4,364 | Panthers | 1989 | |
| United States Merchant Marine Academy | Kings Point, New York | 1942 | Federal | 910 | Mariners | 1989; 2016 |
| Yeshiva University | New York, New York | 1886 | Orthodox | 6,744 | Maccabees | 1998 |
;Notes:
Affiliate members
The Skyline currently has one affiliate member, a public school.| Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Nickname | Joined | Skyline sport | Primary conference |
| Ramapo College | Mahwah, New Jersey | 1969 | Public | 5,233 | Roadrunners | 2019 | New Jersey (NJAC) |
;Notes:
Former members
The Skyline had seven former full members, all but one were private schools:| Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Nickname | Joined | Left | Current conference |
| Bard College | Annandale-on-Hudson, New York | 1860 | Episcopal | 1.958 | Raptors | 2007 | 2011 | Liberty (LL) |
| Centenary University | Hackettstown, New Jersey | 1867 | United Methodist | 1,597 | Cyclones | 2003 | 2007 | Atlantic East (AEC) |
| Polytechnic Institute of New York University | Brooklyn, New York | 1854 | Nonsectarian | N/A | Fighting Jays | 2007 | 2014 | N/A |
| The Sage Colleges Sage College of Albany Russell Sage College | Albany and Troy, New York | 1916 | Nonsectarian | 2,389 | Gators | 2007 | 2018 | Empire 8 (E8) |
| Stevens Institute of Technology | Hoboken, New Jersey | 1870 | Nonsectarian | 5,260 | Ducks | 2000 | 2007 | MAC Freedom |
| Stony Brook University | Stony Brook, New York | 1957 | Public | 26,814 | Patriots | 1989 | 1994 | Coastal (CAA) |
;Notes:
Former affiliate members
The Skyline currently has five affiliate members, all were public schools.| Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Nickname | Joined | Left | Skyline sport | Primary conference |
| Kean University | Union, New Jersey | 1855 | Public | 14,404 | Cougars | 2006 | 2017 | New Jersey (NJAC) | |
| Kean University | Union, New Jersey | 1855 | Public | 14,404 | Cougars | 2005 | 2013 | New Jersey (NJAC) | |
| Kean University | Union, New Jersey | 1855 | Public | 14,404 | Cougars | 2011 | 2017 | New Jersey (NJAC) | |
| Montclair State University | Montclair, New Jersey | 1908 | Public | 19,464 | Red Hawks | 2006 | 2017 | New Jersey (NJAC) | |
| Montclair State University | Montclair, New Jersey | 1908 | Public | 19,464 | Red Hawks | 2005 | 2013 | New Jersey (NJAC) | |
| New Jersey City University | Jersey City, New Jersey | 1929 | Public | 8,443 | Gothic Knights | 2011 | 2017 | New Jersey (NJAC) | |
| New Jersey City University | Jersey City, New Jersey | 1929 | Public | 8,443 | Gothic Knights | 2019 | 2025 | New Jersey (NJAC) | |
| Ramapo College | Mahwah, New Jersey | 1969 | Public | 5,233 | Roadrunners | 2007 | 2013 | New Jersey (NJAC) | |
| Stockton University | Pomona, New Jersey | 1969 | Public | 8,458 | Ospreys | 2006 | 2017 | New Jersey (NJAC) |
;Notes:
Membership timeline
DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:1989 till:2030
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Colors =
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 for another sport only
id:OtherC1 value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that has moved in another conference
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width:15 textcolor:black shift: anchor:from fontsize:s
bar:1 color:FullxF from:1989 till:2007 text:Manhattanville
bar:1 color:OtherC1 from:2007 till:2019 text:MAC Freedom
bar:1 color:FullxF from:2019 till:end text:
bar:2 color:FullxF from:1989 till:2007 text:Merchant Marine
bar:2 color:OtherC1 from:2007 till:2016 text:Landmark
bar:2 color:FullxF from:2016 till:end text:
bar:3 color:FullxF from:1989 till:end text:Mount Saint Vincent
bar:4 color:FullxF from:1989 till:end text:Old Westbury
bar:5 color:FullxF from:1989 till:1994 text:Stony Brook
bar:5 shift: color:OtherC1 from:1994 till:1999 text:D-II Ind.
bar:5 shift: color:OtherC2 from:1995 till:1999 text:NECC
bar:5 color:OtherC1 from:1999 till:2001 text:D-I Ind.
bar:5 color:OtherC2 from:2001 till:2022 text:AmEast
bar:5 color:OtherC1 from:2022 till:end text:CAA
bar:6 color:FullxF from:1993 till:end text:Mount Saint Mary
bar:7 color:FullxF from:1996 till:end text:Maritime
bar:8 color:FullxF from:1998 till:end text:Yeshiva
bar:9 color:FullxF from:1999 till:end text:St. Joseph's (N.Y.)–Long Island
bar:10 color:FullxF from:2000 till:2007 text:Stevens
bar:10 color:OtherC1 from:2007 till:2019 text:Empire 8
bar:10 color:OtherC2 from:2019 till:end text:MAC Freedom
bar:11 color:FullxF from:2003 till:2007 text:Centenary (N.J.)
bar:11 shift: color:OtherC1 from:2007 till:2021 text:CSAC
bar:11 color:OtherC2 from:2021 till:end text:AEC
bar:12 color:FullxF from:2003 till:end text:Farmingdale
bar:13 color:AssocOS from:2006 till:2017 text:Kean
bar:14 color:AssocOS from:2006 till:2017 text:Montclair State
bar:15 color:AssocOS from:2006 till:2017 text:Stockton
bar:16 color:FullxF from:2007 till:2011 text:Bard
bar:16 color:OtherC1 from:2011 till:end text:Liberty
bar:17 color:FullxF from:2007 till:2014 text:NYU–Poly
bar:18 color:FullxF from:2007 till:end text:Purchase
bar:19 color:FullxF from:2007 till:2017 text:Sage
bar:19 color:OtherC1 from:2017 till:end text:Empire 8
bar:20 color:AssocOS from:2007 till:2017 text:Ramapo
bar:20 color:AssocOS from:2019 till:end text:
bar:21 color:AssocOS from:2011 till:2017 text:New Jersey City
bar:21 color:AssocOS from:2019 till:2025 text:
bar:22 color:FullxF from:2014 till:end text:Sarah Lawrence
bar:23 color:FullxF from:2015 till:end text:St. Joseph's (N.Y.)–Brooklyn
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text:^"Skyline Conference membership history"
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;Summary:
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Sports
The Skyline sponsors intercollegiate athletic competition in the following sports:| Sport | Men's | Women's |
| Baseball | ||
| Basketball | ||
| Cross Country | ||
| Golf | ||
| Lacrosse | ||
| Soccer | ||
| Softball | ||
| Swimming & Diving | ||
| Tennis | ||
| Track and field | ||
| Volleyball |