List of NCAA Division II institutions
There are 300 American, Canadian, and Puerto Rican colleges and universities classified as Division II for NCAA competition during the 2025–26 academic year, including nine schools that are in the process of reclassifying to Division II. Forty-four of the 50 U.S. states, plus the District of Columbia, the commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the Canadian province of British Columbia are represented. Arizona, Louisiana, Maine, Nevada, Rhode Island, and Wyoming do not currently have D-II institutions.
NCAA Division II is the smallest division in the NCAA by school count.
Division II institutions
[edit]Full members
[edit]- Notes
- ^ Azusa Pacific will transition to NCAA Division III at the end of the 2025–26 athletic season.[2]
- ^ The school does not sponsor women's basketball.
- ^ Lincoln University's mailing address is located in the census-designated place of Lincoln University, approximately 4 miles northeast of the nearest borough of Oxford.
- ^ Maryville's primary campus is located in Town and Country, but its mailing address is St. Louis.
- ^ Men's only institution in undergraduate programs, therefore it does not compete in women's sports.
- ^ Purdue Northwest maintains a branch campus in Westville, where the men's and women's cross country teams are housed and where the men's and women's basketball & women's volleyball teams play a portion of their home contests; the other intercollegiate athletics teams compete on the main campus in Hammond.
- ^ Roberts Wesleyan's campus is located in North Chili, but its mailing address is Rochester.
- ^ The college's athletic facilities are spread across the campus, which is split between Manchester and Hooksett.
- ^ This number accounts only for Southern New Hampshire University's on-campus enrollment. The university's online enrollment totals well over 200,000.
- ^ Despite the fact the school accepts male students, only women's sports are sponsored by the school.
- ^ The mailing address is Greeneville, but the campus is in unincorporated Greene County in the census-designated place of Tusculum, Tennessee.
- ^ The school does not sponsor men's basketball.
Reclassifying to Division II
[edit]The reclassification process from one NCAA division to another requires three to five years, except for moves to Division II. Moves from Division III or another national governing body (such as the NAIA) to Division II typically requires three years, but as of 2024 can be expedited to only need two.[3] Moves from Division I to II require two years.
| School | Nickname | City | State/ province |
Enrollment | Conference | Reclassifying from |
Full membership |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ferrum College[4] | Panthers | Ferrum | VA | 780 | Conference Carolinas | NCAA D-III | 2027 |
| University of Jamestown[5] | Jimmies | Jamestown | ND | 1,372 | Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference | NAIA | 2026 |
| Menlo College[6] | Oaks | Atherton | CA | 810 | Pacific West Conference | NAIA | 2027 |
| Middle Georgia State University[7] | Knights | Macon and Cochran[a] | GA | 8,409 | Peach Belt Conference | NAIA | 2028 |
| Point Park University[8] | Pioneers | Pittsburgh | PA | 3,448 | Mountain East Conference | NAIA | 2027 |
| Roosevelt University[9] | Lakers | Chicago | IL | 4,281 | Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference | NAIA | 2026 |
| Sul Ross State University[10] | Lobos | Alpine | TX | 2,576 | Lone Star Conference | NCAA D-III | 2026 |
| University of Texas at Dallas[11] | Comets | Richardson | TX | 29,886[12] | Lone Star Conference | NCAA D-III | 2026 |
| University of California, Merced[13] | Golden Bobcats | Merced | CA | 9,110 | California Collegiate Athletic Association | NAIA | 2026 |
Reclassifying from Division II
[edit]The following programs are reclassifying away from NCAA Division II, or have announced definitive plans to do so. Under current NCAA rules, they must have an invitation from a conference to begin the transition to Division I. During the normally four-year transition period, they are ineligible for the Division I playoffs. Since January 2025, there is an option to shorten this transition to three years.[14]
| School Name | Common Name | Teams | Location | State | Type | Subdivision | Conference | Reclassified | Full member |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Le Moyne College | Le Moyne | Dolphins | Syracuse[b] | NY | Private AJCU | Non-football | Northeast Conference | 2023[15] | 2026 |
| Mercyhurst University | Mercyhurst | Lakers | Erie | PA | Private | FCS | Northeast Conference | 2024[16] | 2027 |
| University of New Haven | New Haven | Chargers | New Haven | CT | Private | FCS | Northeast Conference | 2025[17] | 2028 |
| University of West Georgia | West Georgia | Wolves | Carrollton | GA | Public | FCS | Atlantic Sun Conference | 2024[18] | 2027 |
- ^ Middle Georgia State's main campus is in Macon, where the women's cross-country and volleyball teams and men's and women's tennis teams are housed; the other intercollegiate athletics teams compete on the Cochran campus.
- ^ Le Moyne has a Syracuse mailing address, but its campus is located almost entirely within the adjacent town of DeWitt.
Pending
[edit]These schools are actively pursuing Division II membership, but have not yet been approved by the NCAA to transition to Division II. Schools wishing to move within the NCAA to Division II must apply no later than February 1 of a given year, with the NCAA making its decision that July.
| School | Nickname | City | State/ province |
Enrollment | Conference | Current affiliation | Applying |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shawnee State University[19] | Bears | Portsmouth | OH | 3,641 | Mountain East Conference | RSC (NAIA) | 2026 |
| Lackawanna College[20] | Falcons | Scranton | PA | 1,939 | Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference | EPAC (NJCAA) | TBA |
Sports not in D-II
[edit]The NCAA does not conduct separate Division II championships in the following sports:
- Men: Gymnastics, ice hockey, volleyball, water polo (note, however, that no Division II member currently sponsors men's gymnastics)
- Women: Bowling, gymnastics, ice hockey, water polo
- Coeducational: Fencing, rifle, skiing
Some schools have opted to compete in a sport at a higher level and are allowed to do so by the NCAA under certain circumstances. First, when the NCAA placed severe restrictions on the fielding of Division I teams by Division II institutions in 2011, it grandfathered in all then-current D-I teams at D-II schools. Apart from this, Division II members are allowed to compete for Division I championships in sports in which a Division II national championship is not contested.
In some sports, the NCAA only sponsors championships open to all member schools regardless of division, with examples including beach volleyball, fencing, rifle, and water polo. In men's and women's ice hockey and men's volleyball, the NCAA holds Division III championships, but does not hold a separate D-II championship. The NCAA officially classifies all championship events that are open to schools from more than one division as "National Collegiate", except in men's ice hockey, in which the top-level championship is styled as a Division I championship (presumably due to the past existence of a Division II championship in that sport). Division II members are allowed to compete for National Collegiate championships as well as the Division I men's ice hockey championship; in all such sports, they are allowed to operate under the same rules and scholarship restrictions that apply to full Division I members in that sport.
The Northeast-10 Conference (NE-10) sponsors men's ice hockey for its members who choose to remain in D-II, including a postseason tournament.
Several NE-10 members that sponsored women’s ice hockey also competed in the ECAC Women’s East and pursued the ECAC Open title, a women's ice hockey postseason tournament for those teams remaining in D-II but competing as independents during the regular season, but that tournament has been superseded by the New England Women's Hockey Alliance (NEWHA), which began play in 2017 as a scheduling agreement between all of the existing women's National Collegiate independents (including full D-I member Sacred Heart), organized as a full conference in 2018, and received official NCAA recognition in 2019.
Because the NE-10 is the sole Division II hockey league, its postseason champion cannot compete for the NCAA national hockey championship. The Post University men's team competes as D-II as a single-sport NE-10 member, while its women's team is a member of the NEWHA.
- Future conference affiliations indicated in this list will take effect on July 1 of the stated year. In the case of spring sports, the first year of competition will take place in the calendar year after the conference move becomes official.
Probation
[edit]The following is a list of Division II institutions currently on probation by the NCAA in one or more sports. Probation decisions are made by the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Committee on Infractions.
| Institution | Sport(s) | Expiration date |
|---|---|---|
| Lewis University | Men's and women's tennis | August 22, 2025[21] |
| Missouri Southern State University | Football | November 2, 2025[22] |
| Shaw University | Men's basketball | July 12, 2026[23] |
| Drury University | 16 of 21 sports[a] | August 9, 2026[24] |
| University of Findlay | Eleven sports[b] | September 12, 2026[25] |
| King University | Men's and women's volleyball | October 10, 2027[26] |
- ^ The exceptions are women's basketball, women's cross country, women's golf, women's soccer, and men's tennis.
- ^ Sports specifically mentioned in the NCAA infractions decision were baseball, football, men's basketball, men's tennis, men's soccer, men's wrestling, men's and women's swimming, men's and women's track and field and women's lacrosse.
See also
[edit]- List of NCAA Division II football programs
- List of NCAA Division II baseball programs
- List of NCAA Division II softball programs
- List of NCAA Division II lacrosse programs
- List of NCAA Division II men's soccer programs
- List of NCAA Division II women's soccer programs
- List of NCAA Division II wrestling programs
- List of NCAA Division II men's basketball programs
- List of NCAA Division I institutions
- List of NCAA Division III institutions
- List of NAIA institutions
- List of USCAA institutions
- List of NCCAA institutions
- List of NCAA Divisions II and III schools competing in NCAA Division I sports
References
[edit]- ^ "Division II Members". National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
- ^ "APU Announces Return of Football". Azusa Pacific University. March 17, 2025. Retrieved March 17, 2025.
- ^ Report of the NCAA Division II Membership Committee April 10 2024, Videoconference (PDF) (Report). NCAA Division II Membership Committee. April 10, 2024. Retrieved July 11, 2024.
- ^ "Ferrum Accepted into DII Expedited Membership Process". Ferrum Panthers (Press release). February 12, 2025. Retrieved February 14, 2025.
- ^ "NSIC Extends Invitation to the University of Jamestown". Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (Press release). November 21, 2023. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
- ^ "Menlo College Athletics Accepted Into NCAA Division II". Menlo Oaks (Press release). July 13, 2023.
- ^ "Peach Belt Extends Invitation To Middle Georgia State University For Conference Membership" (Press release). Peach Belt Conference. January 10, 2024. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
- ^ "Mountain East Conference Extends Invitation to Point Park University". Mountain East. January 9, 2024. Retrieved January 9, 2024.
- ^ "Roosevelt welcomed as 11th member of the GLIAC" (Press release). Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. July 1, 2024.
- ^ "SRSU applies to move to NCAA Division II" (Press release). Sul Ross State University. January 31, 2023. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
- ^ "UT Dallas Accepts Invitation to Join Lone Star Conference" (Press release). UT Dallas Comets. July 19, 2023. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
- ^ "UT Dallas State of the University 2022" (PDF). UT Dallas. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
- ^ "California Collegiate Athletic Association Set to Add University of California, Merced" (Press release). University of California, Merced. November 14, 2023. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
- ^ "NCAA: D-I men's teams no longer need waivers for preseason games". ESPN.com. January 16, 2025. Retrieved January 25, 2025.
- ^ "LE MOYNE COLLEGE MAKES MOVE TO DIVISION I: ACCEPTS INVITATION TO JOIN NORTHEAST CONFERENCE". Le Moyne College Athletics. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
- ^ "Welcome To The Lake Show: Mercyhurst University Accepts Northeast Conference Membership Invite" (Press release). Northeast Conference. April 4, 2024. Retrieved April 10, 2024.
- ^ Polansky, Rob (May 6, 2025). "University of New Haven joins the NEC". WFSB. Retrieved May 6, 2025.
- ^ "UWG Athletics to Transition to NCAA Division I". West Georgia Athletics. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
- ^ "Mountain East Conference Extends Invitation to Shawnee State University" (Press release). Mountain East Conference. June 27, 2025. Retrieved June 27, 2025.
- ^ "PSAC extends invitation to Lackawanna College to become conference's 18th member institution" (Press release). Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. June 26, 2025. Retrieved June 26, 2025.
- ^ "Lewis University Public Infractions Decision" (PDF). NCAA. August 23, 2022. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
- ^ "Missouri Southern State University Public Infractions Decision" (PDF). NCAA. December 9, 2022. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
- ^ "Shaw University Public Infractions Decision" (PDF). NCAA. July 13, 2022. Retrieved July 25, 2022.
- ^ "Negotiated Resolution: Drury University" (PDF). NCAA. August 10, 2023. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
- ^ "Findlay failed to monitor eligibility certification". NCAA. September 13, 2023. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
- ^ "King (Tennessee) failed to monitor men's and women's volleyball programs" (PDF). NCAA. October 11, 2024. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
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