Capital Athletic Conference
The Capital Athletic Conference is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. Member institutions are located throughout the United States in the states of California, Maryland, Michigan, New York, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
History
Formed in 1989, the charter members were The Catholic University of America, Gallaudet University, the University of Mary Washington, Marymount University, St. Mary's College of Maryland, and York College of Pennsylvania. Goucher College joined the CAC in 1991, followed by Salisbury University in 1993. Hood College, Stevenson University, and Wesley College all formally joined the conference for the 2007–08 season, although Hood and Stevenson had already joined for some sports in the 2006–07 season. CUA and Goucher College left the conference in 2007–08 to become members of the new Landmark Conference. Gallaudet left the conference after the 2009-10 season for the North Eastern Athletic Conference for some sports. Stevenson and Hood left the CAC for the Middle Atlantic Conferences effective July 1, 2012. The CAC added three members on July 1, 2013: Christopher Newport University, Penn State Harrisburg, and Southern Virginia University. Southern Virginia transitioned from the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics and became eligible for conference championships in the 2014–15 season.The CAC lost two members at the end of the 2017–18 school year with Marymount and Wesley leaving to become charter members of the new Atlantic East Conference. Two more members are set to leave after the 2018–19 school year. Frostburg State announced that it planned to transition to NCAA Division II and join the Mountain East Conference, pending NCAA approval. Penn State Harrisburg, which left the NEAC to join the CAC in 2013, will return to its prior conference home. The CAC will lose another member in 2019–20 when York leaves for the MAC Commonwealth Conference.
Later changes to the Capital Athletic Conference membership were announced in December 2019 with the departures of Southern Virginia University and St. Mary's College of Maryland, respectively set to join the USA South Athletic Conference and North Eastern Athletic Conference in the 2021–22 academic year.
On April 30, 2020 and May 20, 2020 the University of Mary Washington and Salisbury University respectively announced that they would join the Metropolitan Swimming Conference starting in the 2020-21 school year. St. Mary's College of Maryland, joined the Atlantic East Conference as an associate member for men's and women's swimming and diving. After these transitions and the loss of York College of Pennsylvania swimming will no longer be sponsored by the CAC.
On May 26, 2020, it was announced that the American Collegiate Athletic Association would merge with the Capital Athletic Conference. The ACAA will have all of its full members join the CAC in the 2020–21 school year, and the expanded CAC is planning to adopt a new name. Pine Manor College, which recently entered into a partnership with Boston College, will participate in the Conference for the 2020-21 academic year only in four sports: men's soccer, men's basketball, women's basketball and baseball. The post-merger conference will not conduct regular-season competition in any sports; members will establish their own schedules, with NCAA championship bids handed out in conference tournaments or championship meets, depending on the sport.
Member schools
Current members
The league currently has eleven full members. Departing members are highlighted in red.| Institution | Location | Nickname | Founded | Type | Enrollment | Joined |
| Santa Cruz, California | Banana Slugs | 1965 | Public | 19,700 | 2020-21 | |
| Christopher Newport University | Newport News, Virginia | Captains | 1961 | Public | 5,186 | 2013–14 |
| Finlandia University | Hancock, Michigan | Lions | 1896 | Private/Lutheran | 507 | 2020-21 |
| Fredericksburg, Virginia | Eagles | 1908 | Public | 4,862 | 1989–90 | |
| Mills College† | Oakland, California | Cyclones | 1852 | Private | 1,345 | 2020-21 |
| Mount Mary University† | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | Blue Angels | 1913 | Private/Catholic | 1,209 | 2020-21 |
| Pine Manor College | Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts | Gators | 1911 | Private | 419 | 2020-21 |
| Pratt Institute | Brooklyn, New York | Cannoneers | 1877 | Private | 4,829 | 2020-21 |
| St. Mary's College of Maryland | St. Mary's City, Maryland | Seahawks | 1840 | Public | 1,950 | 1989-90 |
| Salisbury University | Salisbury, Maryland | Sea Gulls | 1925 | Public | 7,383 | 1993–94 |
| Southern Virginia University | Buena Vista, Virginia | Knights | 1867 | Private/LDS | 1,106 | 2013–14 |
† - Women's college, therefore not competing in men's sports.
Associate members
Former members
Membership timeline
DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:1989 till:2025
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
id:line value:black
id:bg value:white
id:Full value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports
id:FullxF value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football
id:AssocF value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only
id:AssocOS value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in some sports, but not all
id:OtherC1 value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference
id:OtherC2 value:rgb # 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: anchor:from fontsize:s
bar:1 color:FullxF from:1989 till:2007 text:Catholic
bar:2 color:FullxF from:1989 till:2010 text:Gallaudet
bar:3 color:FullxF from:1989 till:end text:Mary Washington
bar:4 color:FullxF from:1989 till:2018 text:Marymount
bar:5 color:FullxF from:1989 till:2021 text:St. Mary's
bar:6 color:FullxF from:1989 till:2020 text:York
bar:7 color:FullxF from:1991 till:2007 text:Goucher
bar:8 color:FullxF from:1993 till:end text:Salisbury
bar:9 color:AssocOS from:2006 till:2007 text:Hood
bar:9 color:FullxF from:2007 till:2012
bar:10 color:AssocOS from:2006 till:2007 text:Stevenson
bar:10 color:FullxF from:2007 till:2012
bar:11 color:FullxF from:2007 till:2018 text:Wesley
bar:12 color:FullxF from:2010 till:2019 text:Frostburg State
bar:13 color:FullxF from:2013 till:end text:Christopher Newport
bar:14 color:FullxF from:2013 till:2019 text:Penn State Harrisburg
bar:15 color:FullxF from:2013 till:2021 text:Southern Virginia
bar:16 color:FullxF from:2020 till:end text:UC Santa Cruz
bar:17 color:FullxF from:2020 till:end text:Finlandia
bar:18 color:FullxF from:2020 till:end text:Mills
bar:19 color:FullxF from:2020 till:end text:Mount Mary
bar:20 color:FullxF from:2020 till:2021 text:Pine Manor
bar:21 color:FullxF from:2020 till:end text:Pratt
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:2 start:1989
TextData =
fontsize:L
textcolor:black
pos: # tabs:
text:"CAC Membership History"
Sports
The CAC sponsors championships in the following sports:| Sport | Men's | Women's |
| Baseball | ||
| Basketball | ||
| Cross Country | ||
| Field Hockey | ||
| Golf | ||
| Lacrosse | ||
| Soccer | ||
| Softball | ||
| Tennis | ||
| Track and field | ||
| Track and field | ||
| Volleyball |