The America East Conference (AmEast) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I whose members are located in the Northeastern United States. The conference is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1979, the conference has nine core members including eight public research universities, three of which - the University of Maine, the University of New Hampshire, and the University of Vermont - are the flagship universities of their states. Two non-flagship university centers of the State University of New York - the University at Albany and Binghamton University - are in the conference along with UMass Lowell, New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) and Bryant University. Bryant is the latest institution to join the conference in 2022, when Stony Brook University and the University of Hartford departed the conference. It is the only private university among the core members. The America East Conference sponsors 18 sports (8 men's and 10 women's). The conference is among the best in the country according to Graduation Success Rate (GSR) data released by the NCAA.

History

The America East Conference was founded as the Eastern College Athletic Conference-North, a men's basketball-only athletic conference, in 1979. The conference was known as the Eastern College Athletic Conference-North from 1979 to 1988 and the North Atlantic Conference from 1988 to 1996. The charter members were the University of Rhode Island, the College of the Holy Cross, Canisius College, Niagara University, Colgate University, Northeastern University, Boston University, the University of Maine, the University of New Hampshire and the University of Vermont. The America East Conference made history during the 2018 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament on March 16, 2018, when No. 16 seed UMBC defeated No. 1 seed Virginia, marking the first time in men's tournament history that a No. 1 seed had lost to a No. 16 seed. Many other events have occurred since its formation: On May 6, 2021, Hartford's governing board voted to begin the process of transitioning the school from Division I to NCAA Division III. Under the plan, Hartford would formally apply to the NCAA for reclassification in January 2022, stop awarding athletic scholarships to incoming students from 2022–23 forward, and join an as-yet-undetermined D-III conference in 2023 before becoming a full D-III member in 2025–26. Several media reports indicated that Hartford's last year in the American East Conference would be the 2021–22 season. This was confirmed on June 21, 2022, when the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC; now known as the Conference of New England) announced that it would be Hartford's partner in the school's reclassification process, with the Hawks joining that league effective in 2023–24. Hartford played most of its sports in the 2022–23 season as a D-I independent. At the time, Hartford was the only private university in the conference; this status transferred to Bryant when it joined in July 2022. On July 20, 2022, the conference announced that Merrimack College would join as a men's lacrosse member for the 2022–23 season.

Members

Current full members

Associate members

Two schools currently hold associate membership: one from California and one from Virginia

Former full members

Former associate members

Eight schools have had single-sport membership in the past. Three of these, Fairfield, Monmouth, and Providence, moved their America East sports into their all-sports conferences. Another such school, NJIT, left when it joined a conference that sponsored its America East sport, but returned as a full member in July 2020 (by which time the AmEast had dropped that sport). Pacific dropped its America East sport following the 2018–19 academic year due to budget cuts. Merrimack College dropped its America East sport following the 2023–24 academic year when the school joined the MAAC. Both Stanford and Cal moved their America East sports into the ACC following the 2023–24 academic year when both of the schools joined the conference.

Membership timeline

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Facilities

Sports sponsored

The America East Conference sponsors championship competition in eight men's and ten women's NCAA sanctioned sports. The most recent changes to the roster of America East sports were announced in 2016, with the dropping of women's tennis after the 2015–16 season due to a lack of sponsoring teams and the revival of men's swimming and diving effective in the 2017–18 school year.

Men's sports

Women's sports

NCAA team championships

No America East school has won a national title in a sport sponsored by the conference; however, member institutions have been national champions in non-America East sports.

Men's basketball

All-time school record by winning percentage

This list goes through the 2018–19 season.

List of regular season champions

List of tournament champions

No. 16 UMBC upset of No. 1 Virginia

During the 2018 NCAA tournament, UMBC became the first No. 16 seed to defeat a No. 1 seed in the NCAA men's tournament, beating the Virginia Cavaliers 74–54.

Women's basketball

All-time school record by winning percentage

List of regular season champions

List of tournament champions

Lacrosse

Soccer