NCAA Division II independent schools

NCAA Division II independent schools are four-year institutions that compete in college athletics at the NCAA Division II level, but do not belong to an established athletic conference for a particular sport. These schools may however still compete as members of an athletic conference in other sports. A school may also be fully independent, and not belong to any athletic conference for any sport at all. The reason for independent status varies among institutions, but it is frequently because the school's primary athletic conference does not sponsor a particular sport.

Full independents[edit]

Division II was created in 1973, at a time when the NCAA included dozens of independent members, plus members of conferences who played as independents in one or more sports. The trend toward consolidating the NCAA membership into conferences began in the late 1970s, and within a decade the number of independent programs declined dramatically. The lists below include only the small number of programs still functioning on an independent basis in recent years.

Current members[edit]

Notes

Former members[edit]

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (February 2024)

Notes

Men's sponsored sports by school[edit]

Departing members in pink.

School	Baseball	Basketball	Cross country	Soccer	Tennis	Track & field outdoor	Volleyball	Wrestling	Total IND sports
UPR Bayamón		Y	Y	Y	Y		Y		5
UPR Mayagüez		Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	6
UPR Río Piedras		Y	Y		Y	Y	Y		5
Salem	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y			6

Women's sponsored sports by school[edit]

Departing members in pink.

School	Basketball	Cross country	Soccer	Softball	Tennis	Track & field outdoor	Volleyball	Total IND sports
UPR Bayamón	Y	Y	Y		Y		Y	5
UPR Mayagüez	Y	Y			Y	Y	Y	5
UPR Río Piedras	Y	Y	Y		Y		Y	5
Salem	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	7

Other sponsored sports by school[edit]

• ^‡ — D-I sport

Baseball independents[edit]

Does not include all-sports independent teams that sponsor the sport (Salem), since they have been listed before.

Current members[edit]

Football independents[edit]

Does not include all-sports independent teams that sponsor the sport, since they have been listed before. Shorter will move its football program to its full-time home of Conference Carolinas once that league begins sponsoring football in 2025.

Current members[edit]

Soccer independents[edit]

Does not include all-sports independent teams that sponsor the sport (UPR Bayamón and Salem men's soccer and UPR Bayamón, UPR Río Piedras and Salem women's soccer), since they have been listed before.

Current members[edit]

Institution	Location	Nickname	Primary conference	(M)	(W)
Allen University	Columbia, South Carolina	Yellow Jackets	SIAC		Y
Bluefield State University	Bluefield, West Virginia	Big Blue	CIAA		Y
Edward Waters University	Jacksonville, Florida	Lady Tigers	SIAC		Y
Shaw University	Raleigh, North Carolina	Bears	CIAA	Y	Y

Lacrosse independents[edit]

Does not include all-sports independent teams that sponsor the sport, since they have been listed before. Dominican (CA) will move their men's lacrosse program to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference beginning in the 2025 season.^[3]

Current members[edit]

Institution	Location	Nickname	Primary conference	(M)	(W)
Dominican University of California	San Rafael, California	Penguins	PacWest	Y	Y
Virginia State University	Ettrick, Virginia	Trojans	CIAA	Y	Y

Wrestling independents[edit]

Does not include all-sports independent teams that sponsor the sport (UPR Mayagüez), since they have been listed before.

Current members[edit]

Other sports[edit]

Golf[edit]

Does not include all-sports independent teams that sponsor the sport, since they have been listed before.

Institution	Location	Nickname	Primary conference	(M)	(W)
Bluefield State University	Bluefield, West Virginia	Big Blue	CIAA		Y
Daemen University	Amherst, New York	Wildcats	ECC	Y
Thomas Jefferson University (Jefferson)	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Rams	CACC		Y
Post University	Waterbury, Connecticut	Eagles	CACC		Y
Roberts Wesleyan University	Chili, New York	Redhawks	ECC	Y
St. Thomas Aquinas College	Sparkill, New York	Spartans	ECC	Y

Rowing[edit]

Does not include all-sports independent teams that sponsor the sport, since they have been listed before.

Swimming & diving[edit]

Does not include all-sports independent teams that sponsor the sport, since they have been listed before.

Institution	Location	Nickname	Primary conference	(M)	(W)
Roberts Wesleyan University	North Chili, New York	Redhawks	ECC	Y	Y

Tennis[edit]

Does not include all-sports independent teams that sponsor the sport (all of them in men's & women's tennis), since they have been listed before.

Institution	Location	Nickname	Primary conference	(M)	(W)
Bluefield State University	Bluefield, West Virginia	Big Blue	CIAA	Y
Colorado State University Pueblo	Pueblo, Colorado	ThunderWolves	RMAC		Y
Johnson C. Smith University	Charlotte, North Carolina	Golden Bulls	CIAA	Y
Shaw University	Raleigh, North Carolina	Bears	CIAA	Y
Virginia State University	Petersburg, Virginia	Trojans	CIAA	Y

Sports not sponsored by D-II[edit]

See also[edit]

• NCAA Division I independent schools
• NCAA Division III independent schools
• NAIA independent schools
• NCAA independent schools (lacrosse)

References[edit]