New Jersey Athletic Conference

Recent events

On July 2, 2024, the State University of New York at New Paltz announced that it will join the NJAC as a full member, thus becoming the NJAC's first-ever full member located outside of the state of New Jersey, beginning the 2026–27 academic year.^[1]

Chronological timeline

• 1957 – In 1957, the NJAC was founded as the New Jersey State Athletic Conference (NJSAC). Charter members included Glassboro State College (now Rowan University), Montclair State College (now Montclair State University), Jersey City State College (now New Jersey City University), Newark State College (now Kean University), Trenton State College (now The College of New Jersey) and William Paterson College (now William Paterson University), beginning the 1957–58 academic year.
• 1976 – Ramapo College of New Jersey joined the NJSAC in the 1976–77 academic year.
• 1977 – Stockton State College (now Stockton University) joined the NJSAC in the 1977–78 academic year.
• 1985:
  • Women's programs became part of the NJSAC, when the Jersey Athletic Conference (a women's sports athletic conference) was merged into the NJSAC; thus being rebranded as the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC), beginning the 1985–86 academic year.
  • Rutgers University at Camden and Rutgers University at Newark joined the NJAC in the 1985–86 academic year.
• 2000 – The State University of New York at Cortland joined the NJAC as an affiliate member for football in the 2000 fall season (2000–01 academic year).
• 2004:
  • New Jersey City left the NJAC to become an NCAA D-III Independent after the 2003–04 academic year.
  • Western Connecticut State University joined the NJAC as an affiliate member for football in the 2004 fall season (2004–05 academic year).
• 2005 – New Jersey City rejoined the NJAC after spending one season as an NCAA D-III Independent school in the 2005–06 academic year.
• 2006 – Buffalo State College (now Buffalo State University) joined the NJAC as an affiliate member for football in the 2006 fall season (2006–07 academic year).
• 2008 – The State University of New York at Brockport and the State University of New York at Morrisville (a.k.a. Morrisville State College) joined the NJAC as affiliate members for football in the 2008 fall season (2008–09 academic year).
• 2011 – The State University of New York at Farmingdale (a.k.a. Farmingdale State College) and St. Joseph's College–Long Island (now St. Joseph's University–Long Island) joined the NJAC as affiliate members for men's and women's indoor and outdoor track & field in the 2011–12 academic year).
• 2012 – Buffalo State left the NJAC as an affiliate member for football after the 2011 fall season (2011–12 academic year).
• 2013 – Western Connecticut State left the NJAC as an affiliate member for football after the 2012 fall season (2012–13 academic year).
• 2014:
  • SUNY Brockport left the NJAC as an affiliate member for football after the 2013 fall season (2013–14 academic year).
  • Southern Virginia University joined the NJAC as an affiliate member for football in the 2014 fall season (2014–15 academic year).
• 2015:
  • SUNY Cortland and SUNY Morrisville left the NJAC as affiliate members for football after the 2014 fall season (2014–15 academic year).
  • Christopher Newport University, Frostburg State University, Salisbury University and Wesley College joined the NJAC as affiliate members for football in the 2015 fall season (2015–16 academic year).
• 2018 – The State University of New York at Oneonta, the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire, the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse and the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater joined the NJAC as affiliate members for men's tennis in the 2019 spring season (2018–19 academic year).
• 2019:
  • Frostburg State and Southern Virginia left the NJAC as affiliate members for football after the 2018 fall season (2018–19 academic year).
  • Five institutions joined the NJAC as affiliate members, all effective in the 2019–20 academic year:
    • Pennsylvania State University at Harrisburg (a.k.a. Penn State–Harrisburg) for men's and women's indoor and outdoor track & field
    • and the State University of New York at Oneonta, the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire, the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse and the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater for men's tennis
• 2020 – St. Joseph's–Long Island left the NJAC as an affiliate member for men's and women's indoor and outdoor track & field after the 2019–20 academic year; due to athletic budget cuts.
• 2021 – Wesley (Del.) left the NJAC as an affiliate member for football after the 2020 fall season (2020–21 academic year); after the school closed down to later be acquired by Delaware State University.
• 2023:
  • Five institutions left the NJAC as affiliate members, all effective after the 2022–23 academic year:
    • Penn State–Harrisburg for men's and women's indoor and outdoor track & field
    • and SUNY Oneonta, Wisconsin–Eau Claire, Wisconsin–La Crosse and Wisconsin–Whitewater left the NJAC as affiliate members for men's tennis
  • The University of Mary Washington, Roger Williams University and the United States Merchant Marine Academy (a.k.a. Merchant Marine) [with Salisbury adding to its NJAC affiliate membership] joined the NJAC as affiliate members for men's and women's swimming & diving in the 2023–24 academic year.
• 2024 – SUNY Farmingdale left the NJAC as an affiliate member for men's and women's outdoor track & field after the 2024 spring season (2023–24 academic year).
• 2025 – Vermont State University–Castleton joined the NJAC as an affiliate member for football in the 2025 fall season (2025–26 academic year).
• 2026:
  • New Jersey City merged with Kean and left the NJAC & the NCAA to join the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) as an independent after the 2025–26 academic year.
  • The State University of New York at New Paltz (a.k.a. SUNY New Paltz) joined the NJAC, beginning the 2026–27 academic year; thus becoming the NJAC's first-ever full member located outside of the state of New Jersey.
  • The NJAC began sponsoring men's lacrosse, adding Centenary College of Louisiana and Colorado College.^[2]

Current full members

The NJAC currently has ten full members, all are public schools:

Notes

Affiliate members

The NJAC currently has seven affiliate members, all but three are public schools:

Notes

Former full members

The NJAC had one former full member, a public school:

Notes

Former affiliate members

The NJAC had 15 former affiliate members, all but two were public schools:

Notes

Membership timeline

 Full member (all sports)   Full member (non-football)   Associate member (football)   Associate member (sport) 

Men's sports

More information School, Baseball ...

School	Baseball	Basketball	Cross Country	Football	Lacrosse	Soccer	Swimming & Diving	Track & Field (Indoor)	Track & Field (Outdoor)	Total NJAC Sports
Kean	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	7
Montclair State	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	7
New Paltz	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	N	N	6
Ramapo	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y[a]	Y	Y	8
Rowan	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y[a]	Y	Y	8
Rutgers–Camden	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	N	Y	Y	6
Rutgers–Newark	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	N	Y	Y	7
Stockton	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	6
TCNJ	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
William Paterson	Y	Y	N	Y	N	Y	Y	N	N	5
Totals	10	10	88	5+3	4+2	10	6+3	7+3	8+3	68+14
Affiliate Members
Castleton				Y						1
Centenary					Y					1
Christopher Newport				Y						1
Colorado College					Y					1
Farmingdale State							Y	Y		2
Mary Washington						Y				1
Penn State–Harrisburg							Y	Y		2
Roger Williams						Y				1
Salisbury				Y		Y				2
St. Joseph's–Long Island							Y	Y		2

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Women's sports

More information School, Basketball ...

School	Basketball	Cross Country	Field Hockey	Lacrosse	Soccer	Softball	Swimming & Diving	Tennis	Track & Field (Indoor)	Track & Field (Outdoor)	Volleyball	Total NJAC Sports
Kean	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y[a]	Y	N	Y	Y	10
Montclair State	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	10
New Paltz	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	9
Ramapo	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y[a]	N	Y	Y	Y	10
Rowan	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y[a]	N	Y	Y	Y	10
Rutgers–Camden	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
Rutgers–Newark	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	7
Stockton	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
TCNJ	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	10
William Paterson	Y	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	7
Totals	10	9	8	7	10	10	7+3	6	7+3	8+3	9	91+9
Affiliate Members
Farmingdale State									Y	Y		2
Mary Washington							Y					1
Penn State–Harrisburg									Y	Y		2
Roger Williams							Y					1
Salisbury							Y					1
St. Joseph's–Long Island									Y	Y		2

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Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the NJAC

More information School, Flag Football ...

School	Flag Football	Golf	Rowing	Wrestling
Kean		CWGC
Montclair State	Y
New Jersey City				IND
Stockton		IND	MARC

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