The Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (or CACC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Its eleven member institutions are located in the northeastern United States in the states of Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.
The CACC was founded in 1961 as an athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), and later joined the NCAA in 2002 on provisional status. The CACC Conference Office has been located in New Haven, Connecticut since 2004, the same year that it upgraded to full active status. The CACC has three full-time staff members and one part-time.
History
Recent events
On August 2, 2022, the CACC announced that it added bowling, a women-only sport in the NCAA, that began in the 2023 spring season (2022âÂÂ23 academic year), with full members Bloomfield, Caldwell, Chestnut Hill, Felician, Holy Family, and Wilmington as the inaugural teams. All but Holy Family, which launched its varsity team in 2022âÂÂ23, had previously been affiliates of the East Coast Conference in that sport.
On November 28, 2023, Lincoln University of Pennsylvania accepted an invitation to join the CACC as an associate member in baseball and women's soccer, beginning the 2024âÂÂ25 academic year.
On November 6, 2025, Monroe University will join the CACC in the 2026âÂÂ27 academic year, pending its acceptance into Division II.
Chronological timeline
- 1961 â The Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) was founded. Charter members included Bloomfield College (now Bloomfield College of Montclair State University), Adelphi Suffolk College (later Dowling College), The King's College, the C. W. Post Campus of Long Island University, Southampton College of Long Island University, Marist College (now Marist University), Monmouth College of New Jersey and Nyack College (later Alliance University), beginning the 1961âÂÂ62 academic year.
- 1965 â St. Thomas Aquinas College joined the CACC in the 1965âÂÂ66 academic year.
- 1981 â Marist left the CACC to join the Division I ranks of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the ECAC Metro Conference (now known as the Northeast Conference) after the 1980âÂÂ81 academic year.
- 1982 â Dominican College of New York (now Dominican University New York) joined the CACC in the 1982âÂÂ83 academic year.
- 1983 â Georgian Court College (now Georgian Court University) joined the CACC in the 1983âÂÂ84 academic year.
- 1985 â Monmouth (N.J.) left the CACC to fully align with the NCAA Division I ranks and join the ECAC Metro after the 1984âÂÂ85 academic year.
- 1987 â Caldwell College (now Caldwell University) and Post College (now Post University) joined the CACC in the 1987âÂÂ88 academic year.
- 1989 â Four institutions left the CACC to join their respective new home primary conferences, all effective after the 1988âÂÂ89 academic year:
- Dowling, LIU Post and LIU Southampton join the New York Collegiate Athletic Conference (NYCAC; now known as the East Coast Conference [ECC])
- and King's College as an Independent
- 1999:
- St. Thomas Aquinas left the CACC to join the NCAA Division II ranks as an NCAA D-II Independent (which would later join the NYCAC) beginning the 2000âÂÂ01 school year.) after the 1998âÂÂ99 academic year.
- Felician College (now Felician University), GoldeyâÂÂBeacom College, Holy Family College (now Holy Family University), the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia (USP; later the University of the Sciences before being absorbed by Saint Joseph's University in 2022) and Wilmington College of Delaware (now Wilmington University) joined the CACC in the 1999âÂÂ2000 academic year.
- 2000 â The New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) joined the CACC in the 2000âÂÂ01 academic year.
- 2002 â The CACC was granted provisional membership status within the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II ranks, transitioning from the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), beginning the 2002âÂÂ03 academic year.
- 2004 â The CACC had achieved full membership status within the NCAA Division II ranks in the 2004âÂÂ05 academic year.
- 2005 â Philadelphia University (now Thomas Jefferson University) joined the CACC in the 2005âÂÂ06 academic year.
- 2006 â NJIT left the CACC to join the NCAA Division I ranks as an NCAA D-I Independent after the 2005âÂÂ06 academic year.
- 2007 â Chestnut Hill College joined the CACC in the 2007âÂÂ08 academic year.
- 2009 â Concordia College of New York joined the CACC in the 2009âÂÂ10 academic year.
- 2017 â The CACC began sponsoring men's lacrosse, with play starting in the 2018 spring season (2017âÂÂ18 academic year).
- 2021 â Concordia (N.Y.) left the CACC as the school announced that it would close at the end of the 2020âÂÂ21 academic year.
- 2022:
- USciences left the CACC when it merged into Saint Joseph's University at the end of the 2021âÂÂ22 academic year.
- The University of Bridgeport joined the CACC in the 2022âÂÂ23 academic year.
- The CACC began sponsoring bowling, a women-only sport in the NCAA, with play starting the 2023 spring season (2022âÂÂ23 academic year), with full members Bloomfield, Caldwell, Chestnut Hill, Felician, Holy Family, and Wilmington as the inaugural teams. All but Holy Family, which launched its varsity team in 2022âÂÂ23, had previously been affiliates of the East Coast Conference in that sport.
- 2023 â Alliance left the CACC as the school announced that it would close at the end of the 2022âÂÂ23 academic year.
- 2024 â Lincoln University of Pennsylvania joined the CACC as an associate member for baseball and women's soccer in the 2024âÂÂ25 academic year.
- 2025 â Bloomfield left the CACC and the NCAA to join the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) as an Independent after the 2024âÂÂ25 academic year.
- 2026 â Monroe University will join the CACC, beginning the 2026âÂÂ27 academic year; pending its acceptance into NCAA Division II.
Member schools
Current members
The CACC currently has 11 full members, all are private schools:
Notes
Future members
Notes
Associate members
Notes:
Former members
The CACC had twelve former full members; all but two were private schools.
Notes:
Membership timeline
Sports
Men's sponsored sports by school
Women's sponsored sports by school
Other sponsored sports by school
References
External links