New Jersey Athletic Conference Explained

New Jersey Athletic Conference
Founded:	1985
Association:	NCAA
Division:	Division III
Teams:	10 (11 in 2026)
Sports:	20
Mens:	9
Womens:	11
Region:	New Jersey and New York (2026)
Formerly:	New Jersey State Athletic Conference (1957–1985)
Headquarters:	Pitman, New Jersey
Commissioner:	Terry Small
Website:	njacsports.com
Map:	NJAC-USA-states.png
Map Size:	250
Color:	003770;
Font Color:	FFFFFF

The New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC), formerly the New Jersey State Athletic Conference, is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. All of its current full members are public universities in New Jersey, although it will add one new full member from New York in 2026. Affiliate members (track-only, or football-only) are located in Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

History

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), effective beginning the 1957-58 academic year.
• 1976 - Ramapo College of New Jersey joined the NJSAC, effective in the 1976-77 academic year.
• 1977 - Stockton State College (now Stockton University) joined the NJSAC, effective 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. Therefore it was rebranded as the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC), effective in the 1985-86 academic year.
• 1985 - Rutgers University at Camden and Rutgers University at Newark joined the NJAC, effective in the 1985-86 academic year.
• 2000 - The State University of New York at Cortland joined the NJAC as an associate member for football, effective in the 2000 fall season (2000-01 academic year).
• 2004 - New Jersey City left the NJAC to become an NCAA D-III Independent, effective after the 2003-04 academic year.
• 2004 - Western Connecticut State University joined the NJAC as an associate member for football, effective in the 2004 fall season (2004-05 academic year).
• 2005 - New Jersey City re-joined back to the NJAC after spending one season as an NCAA Division III Independent school, effective in the 2005-06 academic year.
• 2006 - Buffalo State College (now a university) joined the NJAC as an associate member for football, effective 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 joined the NJAC as associate members for football, effective in the 2008 fall season (2008-09 academic year).
• 2011 - The State University of New York at Farmingdale (Farmingdale State College) and St. Joseph's College–Long Island (now a university) joined the NJAC as associate members for men's and women's indoor and outdoor track & field, effective in the 2011-12 academic year).
• 2012 - Buffalo State left the NJAC as an associate member for football, effective after the 2011 fall season (2011-12 academic year).
• 2013 - Western Connecticut State left the NJAC as an associate member for football, effective after the 2012 fall season (2012-13 academic year).
• 2014 - SUNY Brockport left the NJAC as an associate member for football, effective after the 2013 fall season (2013-14 academic year).
• 2014 - Southern Virginia University joined the NJAC as an associate member for football, effective in the 2014 fall season (2014-15 academic year).
• 2015 - SUNY Cortland and SUNY Morrisville left the NJAC as associate members for football, effective after the 2014 fall season (2014-15 academic year).
• 2015 - Christopher Newport University, Frostburg State University, Salisbury University and Wesley College joined the NJAC as associate members for football, all effective in the 2015 fall season (2015-16 academic year).
• 2019 - Frostburg State and Southern Virginia left the NJAC as associate members for football, effective after the 2018 fall season (2018-19 academic year).
• 2019 - Five institutions joined the NJAC as associate members: Pennsylvania State University at 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, all effective in the 2019-20 academic year.
• 2021 - Wesley (Del.) left the NJAC as an associate member for football after the school closed down to later be acquired by Delaware State University, effective after the 2020 fall season (2020-21 academic year).
• 2025 - Vermont State University–Castleton will join the NJAC as an associate member for football, effective in the 2025 fall season (2025-26 academic year).
• 2026 – SUNY New Paltz will join the NJAC as a full member, becoming the NJAC's first-ever full member located outside of the state of New Jersey.^[1]

Member schools

Current members

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

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined	Colors	Football
North Division
Montclair State University	Upper Montclair, New Jersey	1908	Public	16,660	Red Hawks	1957		Yes
New Jersey City University	Jersey City, New Jersey	1929		7,300	Gothic Knights	1957; 2005		No
Ramapo College	Mahwah, New Jersey	1969		5,233	Roadrunners	1976		No
Rutgers University–Newark	Newark, New Jersey	1945		10,500	Scarlet Raiders	1985		No
William Paterson University	Wayne, New Jersey	1855		10,970	Pioneers	1957		Yes
South Division
Kean University	Union, New Jersey	1855	Public	15,000	Cougars	1957		Yes
Rowan University	Glassboro, New Jersey	1923		18,500	Profs	1957		Yes
Rutgers University–Camden	Camden, New Jersey	1950		5,450	Scarlet Raptors	1985		No
Stockton University	Galloway, New Jersey	1969		7,450	Ospreys	1977		No
The College of New Jersey	Ewing, New Jersey	1855		7,400	Lions	1957		Yes

Notes:

Future full members

Notes:

Affiliate members

The NJAC currently has five affiliate members, all but one are public schools:

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined	Primary conference	NJAC sport
Christopher Newport University	Newport News, Virginia	1961	Public	5,186	Captains	2015–16	Coast to Coast (C2C)	football
Farmingdale State College	East Farmingdale, New York	1912	Public	7,000	Rams	2011–12 2011–12 2011–12 2011–12	Skyline	men's indoor track & field men's outdoor track & field women's indoor track & field women's outdoor track & field
Penn State–Harrisburg	Lower Swatara, Pennsylvania	1966	Public	5,046	Lions	2019–20 2019–20 2019–20 2019–20	United East (UEC)	men's indoor track & field men's outdoor track & field women's indoor track & field women's outdoor track & field
St. Joseph's University –Long Island	Patchogue, New York	1916	Private	3,810	Golden Eagles	2011–12 2011–12 2011–12 2011–12	Skyline	men's indoor track & field men's outdoor track & field women's indoor track & field women's outdoor track & field
Salisbury University	Salisbury, Maryland	1925	Public	8,657	Sea Gulls	2015–16	Coast to Coast (C2C)	football

Future affiliate members

The NJAC will have one new affiliate member, a public school:

Former affiliate members

The NJAC has twelve former affiliate members, all but two were public schools:

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined	Left	Primary conference	NJAC sport
Buffalo State College	Buffalo, New York	1871	Public	11,000	Bengals	2006–07	2011–12	New York (SUNYAC)	football
Frostburg State University	Frostburg, Maryland	1898	Public	5,215	Bobcats	2015–16	2018–19	Mountain East (MEC)
Southern Virginia University	Buena Vista, Virginia	1867	LDS Church	1,106	Knights	2014–15	2018–19	USA South
State University of New York at Brockport	Brockport, New York	1867	Public	6,962	Golden Eagles	2008–09	2013–14	New York (SUNYAC)
State University of New York at Cortland	Cortland, New York	1868	Public	6,199	Red Dragons	2000–01	2014–15	New York (SUNYAC)
State University of New York at Morrisville	Morrisville, New York	1908	Public	3,356	Mustangs	2008–09	2014–15	United East (UEC)
Wesley College	Dover, Delaware	1873	United Methodist	2,320	Wolverines	2015–16	2020–21	N/A
Western Connecticut State University	Danbury, Connecticut	1903	Public	6,000	Colonials	2004–05	2012–13	Little East (LEC)
State University of New York at Oneonta	Oneonta, New York	1889	Public	6,543	Red Dragons	2019–20	2023–24	New York State (SUNYAC)	men's tennis
University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire	Eau Claire, Wisconsin	1916	Public	10,737	Blugolds	2019–20	2023–24	Wisconsin (WIAC)
University of Wisconsin–La Crosse	La Crosse, Wisconsin	1909	Public	10,679	Eagles	2019–20	2023–24	Wisconsin (WIAC)
University of Wisconsin–Whitewater	Whitewater, Wisconsin	1868	Public	12,346	Warhawks	2019–20	2023–24	Wisconsin (WIAC)

Notes

Membership timeline

DateFormat = yyyy

ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20

Period = from:1957 till:2032

TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal

PlotArea = right:20 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<#

Colors =

id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7) id:line value:black id:bg value:white id:Full value:rgb(0.742,0.727,0.852) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports id:FullxF value:rgb(0.551,0.824,0.777) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football id:AssocF value:rgb(0.98,0.5,0.445) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.5,0.691,0.824) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in some sports, but not all (consider identifying in legend or a footnote) id:OtherC1 value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference id:OtherC2 value:rgb(0.988,0.703,0.383) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference where OtherC1 has already been used, to distinguish the two

PlotData=

width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s

bar:1 color:FullxF from:1957 till:1972 text:Kean (1957–present) bar:1 color:Full from:1972 till:end

bar:2 color:FullxF from:1957 till:1969 text:Montclair State (1957–present) bar:2 color:Full from:1969 till:end

bar:3 color:FullxF from:1957 till:1969 text:New Jersey City (1957–2004) bar:3 color:Full from:1969 till:2003 bar:3 color:FullxF from:2003 till:2004 bar:3 color:OtherC1 from:2004 till:2005 bar:3 color:FullxF from:2005 till:end text:(2005–present)

bar:4 color:FullxF from:1957 till:1969 text:Rowan (1957–present) bar:4 color:Full from:1969 till:end

bar:5 color:FullxF from:1957 till:1969 text:TCNJ (1957–present) bar:5 color:Full from:1969 till:end

bar:6 color:FullxF from:1957 till:1972 text:William Paterson (1957–present) bar:6 color:Full from:1972 till:end

bar:7 color:FullxF from:1976 till:1981 text:Ramapo (1976–present) bar:7 color:Full from:1981 till:1993 bar:7 color:FullxF from:1993 till:end

bar:8 color:FullxF from:1977 till:end text:Richard Stockton (1977–present)

bar:9 color:FullxF from:1985 till:end text:Rutgers–Camden (1985–present)

bar:10 color:FullxF from:1985 till:end text:Rutgers–Newark (1985–present)

bar:11 color:AssocF from:2000 till:2015 text:SUNY Cortland (2000–2015)

bar:12 color:AssocF from:2004 till:2013 text:Western Connecticut State (2004–2013)

bar:13 color:AssocF from:2006 till:2012 text:Buffalo State (2006–2012)

bar:14 color:AssocF from:2008 till:2014 text:SUNY Brockport (2008–2014)

bar:15 color:AssocF from:2008 till:2015 text:SUNY Morrisville (2008–2015)

bar:16 color:AssocOS from:2011 till:end text:Farmingdale State (2011–present)

bar:17 color:AssocOS from:2011 till:end text:St. Joseph's–Long Island (2011–present)

bar:18 color:AssocOS from:2011 till:end text:Farmingdale State (2011–present)

bar:19 color:AssocF from:2014 till:2019 text:Southern Virginia (2014–2019)

bar:20 color:AssocF from:2015 till:end text:Christopher Newport (2015–present)

bar:21 color:AssocF from:2015 till:2019 text:Frostburg State (2015–2019)

bar:22 color:AssocF from:2015 till:end text:Salisbury (2015–present)

bar:23 color:AssocF from:2015 till:2021 text:Wesley (Del.) (2015–2021)

bar:24 color:AssocOS from:2019 till:end text:Penn State–Harrisburg (2019–present)

bar:25 color:AssocOS from:2019 till:2024 text:SUNY Oneonta (2019–2024)

bar:26 color:AssocOS from:2019 till:2024 text:Wisconsin–Eau Claire (2019–2024)

bar:27 color:AssocOS from:2019 till:2024 text:Wisconsin–La Crosse (2019–2024)

bar:28 color:AssocOS from:2019 till:2024 text:Wisconsin–Oshkosh (2019–2024)

bar:29 shift:(-30) color:AssocF from:2025 till:end text:Vermont State–Castleton (2025–future)

bar:30 color:FullxF from:2026 till:end text:SUNY New Paltz (2026–future)

bar:N color:powderblue from:1957 till:1985 text:New Jersey State Athletic Conference (NJSAC) bar:N color:blue from:1985 till:end text:New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC)

ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:5 start:1960

Sports

The NJAC sponsors championships in the following sports:

Men's	Women's
Baseball
Basketball
Cross Country
Field Hockey
Football
Lacrosse
Soccer
Softball
Swimming
Tennis
Track and field (indoor)
Track and field (outdoor)
Volleyball

National championship teams

Since the NCAA established the three division system in 1973, NJAC members have won a total of 63 team championships.^[2]

• Baseball

Kean: 2007
Montclair State: 1987, 1993, 2000
Ramapo: 1984
Rowan: 1978, 1979
William Paterson: 1992, 1996

• Men's Basketball

Rowan: 1996

• Field Hockey

Rowan: 2002
TCNJ: 1981, 1983, 1985, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2011

• Men's Golf

Ramapo: 1982

• Women's Lacrosse

TCNJ: 1985, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2005, 2006

• Men's Soccer

Kean: 1992
Richard Stockton: 2001
Rowan: 1981, 1990
TCNJ: 1996

• Women's Soccer

TCNJ: 1993, 1994, 2000

• Softball

Rutgers-Camden: 2006
TCNJ: 1983, 1987, 1989, 1992, 1994, 1996

• Women's Tennis

TCNJ: 1986

• Men's Outdoor Track

Rowan: 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984

• Wrestling

Montclair State: 1976, 1986
TCNJ: 1979, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1987

Notes and References

1. Web site: SUNY New Paltz to Become a Full Member of the NJAC in 2026-27 . NJACsports.com . NJAC . 5 July 2024.
2. Web site: About the NJAC. September 8, 2015.