The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics ( NAIA ) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to their student athletes. Around $ 1.3 billion in athletic scholarship financial aid is awarded to student athletes annually.
25-587: NAIA independent schools are four-year institutional members of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) that do not have formal conference affiliations. NAIA schools that are not members of any other athletic conference are members of the Continental Athletic Conference (CAC), formerly the Association of Independent Institutions (AII), which provides member services to
50-536: A part of any of these conferences play in the Continental Athletic Conference , formerly the Association of Independent Institutions. *- Denotes that the conference sponsors football. †- Denotes a football-only conference. National Junior College Athletic Association The National Junior College Athletic Association ( NJCAA ), founded in 1938, is the governing association of community college , state college and junior college athletics throughout
75-580: A proper conference. Schools that competes as independent in some sports that their own conference doesn't sponsor, competes in the CAC as affiliate members (except football). Departing members are highlighted in pink. National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics For the 2023–24 season, it had 241 member institutions , of which two are in British Columbia , one in the U.S. Virgin Islands , and
100-499: A series of do-it-yourself home improvement videos, became the first college student-athlete known to have profited from an endorsement under the current rules. The NAIA sponsors 16 sports in which it conducts 28 annual championships (13 for men, 13 for women, 2 co-ed). The NAIA recognizes three levels of competitions: "emerging" (15 or more institutions sponsoring as varsity and declared), "invitational" (25 or more institutions sponsoring as varsity and declared for postseason, Approval of
125-773: The Chuck Taylor Most Valuable Player award since 1939, as well as the Charles Stevenson Hustle Award ("Charlie Hustle"), which was the basis for Pete Rose 's nickname, given to him by Whitey Ford . From 1992 to 2020, basketball was the only NAIA sport in which the organization's member institutions were aligned into divisions. Effective with the 2020–21 academic year, the NAIA returned to a single division for both men's and women's basketball. The NAIA has 21 member conferences, including 9 that sponsor football. Member institutions that are not
150-554: The Division I or II level if they so desire. The NJCAA is divided into 24 different regions: Due to the relatively small number of schools fielding teams, some football-only conferences exist. They may be home to teams from multiple regions. There are also independent schools in regions 2 (Arkansas Baptist), 3 (upstate New York), 8 (ASA-Miami), 10 (Louisburg, N.C.), 12 (Hocking College), and 17 (Georgia Military). Onondaga Community College 's football program does not compete in
175-566: The NAIA, in partnership with the National Football League (NFL), announced the addition of flag football as a varsity sport for female student-athletes. The NAIA became the first collegiate governing body to sanction the sport at the varsity level. Women's flag began during the 2021 season as an emerging sport with about 15 teams. Name, image, and likeness reform — In October 2020, the NAIA passed legislation that allows student-athletes at its member institutions to be compensated for
200-673: The NJCAA chooses to compete on the Division I, II or III level. Division I colleges may offer full athletic scholarships, totaling a maximum of tuition, fees, room and board, course-related books, up to $ 250 in course-required supplies, and transportation costs one time per academic year to and from the college by direct route. Division II colleges are limited to awarding tuition, fees, course related books, and up to $ 250 in course required supplies. Division III institutions may provide no athletically related financial assistance. However, NJCAA colleges that do not offer athletic aid may choose to participate at
225-503: The National Administrative Council), and "championship" (40 or more institutions sponsoring as varsity, Minimum of two Invitationals held, Approval of the National Administrative Council). The association conducts, or has conducted in the past, championship tournaments in the following sports (year established). The NAIA men's basketball championship is the longest-running collegiate national championship of any sport in
250-626: The National Association for Intercollegiate Basketball (NAIB) was formed in Kansas City, Missouri. In 1952 , the NAIB was transformed into the NAIA, and with that came the sponsorship of additional sports such as men's golf, tennis and outdoor track and field. Football in the NAIA was split into two divisions in 1970, based on enrollment (Divisions I and II); it was consolidated back into a single division in 1997. The 1948 NAIB national tournament
275-538: The United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 separate regions across 24 states and is divided into 3 divisions. The idea for the NJCAA was conceived in 1937, in Fresno, California . A handful of junior college representatives met to organize an association that would promote and supervise a national program of junior college sports and activities consistent with the educational objectives of junior colleges. A constitution
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#1732858580774300-474: The United States. The tournament was the brainchild of Dr. James Naismith , creator of the game of basketball; Emil Liston , athletic director at Baker University ; and Frank Cramer, founder of Cramer Athletic Products. The event began in 1937 with the inaugural tournament at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 2017 men's championship marked the 80th edition of what has been tabbed College Basketball's Toughest Tournament. The tournament has awarded
325-512: The first National College Basketball Tournament at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri , of which Goldman was director, one year before the first National Invitation Tournament and two years before the first NCAA tournament . The goal of the tournament was to establish a forum for small colleges and universities to determine a national basketball champion. The original eight-team tournament expanded to 32 teams in 1938. On March 10, 1940,
350-473: The first association to admit colleges and universities from outside the United States. The NAIA began admitting Canadian members in 1967. Football – The NAIA was the first association to send a football team to Europe to play. In the summer of 1976, the NAIA sent Henderson State and Texas A&I to play 5 exhibition games in West Berlin, Vienna, Nuremberg, Mannheim and Paris. Flag football – In May 2020,
375-494: The first female college athlete to play and score in a college football game when she kicked two extra points during the 1997 Linfield vs. Willamette football game . Launched in 2000 by the NAIA, the Champions of Character program promotes character and sportsmanship through athletics. The Champions of Character conducts clinics and has developed an online training course to educate athletes, coaches, and athletic administrators with
400-531: The first historically Black institution to win a collegiate basketball national championship. In 1959, Southern University became the first HBCU to win the NAIA Baseball championship. In 2024, NAIA instituted a ban on those transgender men who have begun transgender hormone therapy and all transgender women from competing in women’s sports, with the exception of cheerleading and dance. The NAIA began sponsoring intercollegiate championships for women in 1980 ,
425-530: The institution and allows members to compete in postseason competition. The CAC has one member institution in Canada's British Columbia. It provides services to the member institutions that are not fitting in any other NAIA conference and allows members to compete in postseason competition. The AII renamed itself the Continental Athletic Conference at the end of June 2021, citing the need to identify as
450-534: The rest in the continental United States , with over 83,000 student-athletes participating. The NAIA, whose headquarters is in Kansas City, Missouri , sponsors 28 national championships. CBS Sports Network , formerly called CSTV, serves as the national media outlet for the NAIA. In 2014, ESPNU began carrying the NAIA Football National Championship . In 1937, James Naismith and local leaders, including George Goldman and Emil Liston, staged
475-463: The second coed national athletics association to do so, offering collegiate athletics championships to women in basketball, cross country, gymnastics, indoor and outdoor track and field, softball, swimming and diving, tennis and volleyball. The National Junior College Athletic Association had established a women's division in the spring of 1975 and held the first women's national championship volleyball tournament that fall. In 1997, Liz Heaston became
500-468: The skills necessary to promote character development in the context of sport. In 2010, the association opened the NAIA Eligibility Center, where prospective student-athletes are evaluated for academic and athletic eligibility. It delivers on the NAIA's promise of integrity by leveling the playing field, guiding student-athlete success, and ensuring fair competition. Membership – The NAIA was
525-411: The unaffiliated California Community College Athletic Association . The NJCAA only allowed male competitors until 1975, when it established a women's division following the enactment of Title IX . Based out of Hutchinson, Kansas since 1968, the national office relocated to Colorado Springs, Colorado in 1985. Headquarters moved to Charlotte, North Carolina in 2018. Each institution belonging to
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#1732858580774550-487: The use of their name, image, and likeness (NIL). According to an NAIA press release, student-athletes can now "receive compensation for promoting any commercial product, enterprise, or for any public or media appearance", and can also "reference their intercollegiate athletic participation in such promotions or appearances." The NAIA had allowed student-athletes to receive NIL compensation since 2014, but had not previously allowed them to reference their status as such. The NAIA
575-520: Was presented and adopted at the charter meeting in Fresno on May 14, 1938. In 1949, the NJCAA was reorganized by dividing the nation into sixteen regions. The officers of the association were the president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, public relations director, and the sixteen regional vice presidents. Although the NJCAA was founded in California, it no longer operates there, having been supplanted by
600-492: Was several years ahead of the NCAA in NIL reform; the NCAA did not adopt NIL reform until 2021, after its hand was forced by multiple states passing legislation to allow student-athletes to receive such compensation, most notably California . In December 2020, Chloe Mitchell, a volleyball player at NAIA member Aquinas College who at the time had more than 2 million followers on TikTok with
625-506: Was the first intercollegiate postseason to feature a Black student-athlete, Clarence Walker of Indiana State under coach John Wooden . Wooden had withdrawn from the 1947 tournament because the NAIB would not allow Walker to play. The association furthered its commitment to African-American athletes when, in 1953, it became the first collegiate association to invite historically black colleges and universities into its membership. In 1957, Tennessee A&I (now Tennessee State) became
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