The New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) has been the name of two incarnations of collegiate athletic conferences.
Former Division II conference[]
The NECC was an NCAA Division II college athletic conference based in the Northeastern United States that dissolved during the late 1990s after most of its members either moved to Division I or joined Division II leagues such as the Northeast Ten Conference or the East Coast Conference.
The conference was founded in 1981 as the New England College Basketball League, and eventually expanded to sponsor eleven sports: men's and women's soccer,men's and women's volleyball, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's basketball, baseball and softball. [1]
Modern Division III conference[]
In June 2007, nine colleges from New England announced the creation of a new athletic conference under the same NECC name.
The league, which will begin operations July 1, 2008, as a Division III conference includes Bay Path College (Longmeadow, Mass.), Becker College (Leicester, Mass.), Daniel Webster College (Nashua, N.H.), Elms College (Chicopee, Mass.), Lesley University (Cambridge, Mass.), Mitchell College (New London, Conn.), Newbury College (Brookline, Mass.), Southern Vermont College (Bennington, Vt.), and Wheelock College (Boston, Mass.).
The conference plans to initially sponsor 14 championship sports.
Members[]
Current members[]
| Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Joined | Mascot |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bay Path College | Longmeadow, MA | 1897 | Private | 1,501 | 2008 | Wildcats |
| Becker College | Worcester, MA | 1784 | Private | 2,079 | 2008 | Hawks |
| Daniel Webster College | Nashua, NH | 1965 | Private | 722 | 2008 | Eagles |
| Elms College | Chicopee, MA | 1899 | Catholic | 1,013 | 2008 | Blazers |
| Lesley University | Cambridge, MA | 1909 | Private | 1,351 | 2008 | Lynx |
| Mitchell College | New London, CT | 1938 | Private | 790 | 2008 | Mariners |
| Newbury College | Brookline, MA | 1962 | Private | 1,311 | 2008 | Nighthawks |
| Regis College | Weston, MA | 1927 | Catholic | 1,411 | 2011 | Pride |
| Southern Vermont College | Bennington, VT | 1926 | Private | 410 | 2008 | Mountaineers |
| Wheelock College | Boston, MA | 1888 | Private | 1,086 | 2008 | Wildcats |
Former members[]
| Institution | New Conference | Classification |
|---|---|---|
| University at Albany | America East | NCAA Division I |
| Binghamton University | America East | NCAA Division I |
| University of Bridgeport | ECC | NCAA Division II |
| Central Connecticut State University | NEC | NCAA Division I |
| Felician College | CACC | NCAA Division II |
| Franklin Pierce University | Northeast-10 | NCAA Division II |
| Keene State College | Little East | NCAA Division III |
| Le Moyne College | Northeast-10 | NCAA Division II |
| UMass Lowell | Northeast-10 | NCAA Division II |
| University of New Haven | Northeast-10 | NCAA Division II |
| Post University | CACC | NCAA Division II |
| Quinnipiac University | NEC | NCAA Division I |
| Sacred Heart University | NEC | NCAA Division I |
| Southern Connecticut State University | Northeast-10 | NCAA Division II |
| Southern New Hampshire University | Northeast-10 | NCAA Division II |
| Stony Brook University | America East | NCAA Division I |