NAIA independent schools are four-year institutional members of the
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) that do not have formal conference affiliations.[1] 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 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 a proper conference.[2]
2009 – Nine institutions left the AII, seven to join their respective new home primary conferences: Ave Maria, Johnson & Wales–Miami and Southeastern (Fla.) to join the
Sun Conference, Brescia's basketball teams to join the rest of its athletics program in the KIAC, Holy Cross (Ind.) to join the
Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC), Our Lady of the Lake to join the
Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC), and Park to join the
American Midwest Conference, all effective after the 2008–09 academic year. The eight and ninth, Santa Fe and Victory, ceased operations.
2011 – Nine institutions left the AII, eight to join their respective new home primary conferences: Philander Smith and Talladega to join the GCAC, Regina to realign its athletics program to the CIS, Simon Fraser to realign its athletics program to the NCAA Division II ranks and the
Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC), St. Thomas (Tex.) to the RRAC, Benedictine–Springfield to join the American Midwest, Central Baptist to join the MCAC, and Lourdes to join the
Wolverine–Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC), all effective after the 2010–11 academic year. The ninth, Lambuth, ceased operations.
2012 – 13 institutions left the AII, 11 to join their respective new home primary conferences: Embry–Riddle at Arizona, Marymount (Cal.) and Soka to join the
California Pacific Conference (Cal Pac), Life to join the
TranSouth Athletic Conference (TSAC or TranSouth), Marygrove and Lawrence Tech to join the WHAC, Southern Virginia and Warren Wilson to realign within the
United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) [with Southern Virginia later applying to join the
NCAA Division III ranks in the 2013–14 academic year], Arizona Christian to join the
Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC), Thomas (Ga.) to join the
Sun Conference, Dickinson State to join the
Frontier Conference, and SCAD Atlanta to join the
Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC), all effective after the 2011–12 academic year. The twelfth and thirteenth, Mountain State and Patten, ceased operations.
2013 – Six institutions left the AII to join their respective new home primary conferences: Voorhees to join the GCAC, Dakota State, Jamestown, Mayville State and Valley City State to join the newly-created
North Star Athletic Association (NSAA), and Indiana–Kokomo to join the KIAC, all effective after the 2012–13 academic year.
2014 – Three institutions left the AII to join their respective new home primary conferences: Life to join the
Mid-South Conference, LSU–Alexandria to join the RRAC, and Dalton State to join the SSAC, all effective after the 2013–14 academic year.
2015 – Four institutions left the AII to join their respective new home primary conferences: Cal State–San Marcos to join the NCAA Division II ranks and the
California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA), Houston–Victoria to the RRAC, Walla Walla to the
Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC), and Antelope Valley to join the Cal Pac, all effective after the 2014–15 academic year.
2016 – Eight institutions left the AII, six to join their respective new home primary conferences: Allen to the AAC, Texas A&M–Texarkana to join the RRAC, Winnipeg to realign its athletics program to the CIS, Clarke and Mount Mercy to join the
Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC), and York (Neb.) to join the
Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference, all effective after the 2015–16 academic year. The seventh and eighth, Ashford and Trinity Lutheran, ceased operations.
2017 – Two institutions left the AII to join their respective new home primary conferences: Rochester to join the WHAC, and Central Christian to join the
Sooner Athletic Conference (SAC), both effective after the 2016–17 academic year.
2018 – Eight institutions left the AII to join their respective new home primary conferences: British Columbia to realign its athletics program to the U Sports, Johnson & Wales–Denver to join the NCAA Division III ranks and the
Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC), SUNY Delhi to join the NCAA Division III ranks and the
North Atlantic Conference (NAC), Cleary to the WHAC, Stillman and Florida College to join the SSAC, Rust to join the GCAC, and Maine–Fort Kent (UMFK) to realign its athletics program with the USCAA, all effective after the 2017–18 academic year.
2019 – Five institutions left the AII, three to join their respective new home primary conferences: Indiana–Northwest to join the CCAC, Kentucky Christian to join the AAC, and Villa Maria to realign its athletics program with the USCAA, all effective after the 2018–19 academic year. The fourth and fifth, Green Mountain and St. Joseph (Vt.), ceased operations.
2019 –
Bacone College joined the AII in the 2019–20 academic year.
2020 – Two institutions left the AII, one to join its respective new home primary conference: Lincoln (Ill.) to join the CCAC after the 2019–20 academic year. The other, Holy Family ceased operations.
2021 – Two institutions left the AII to join their respective new home primary conferences: Fisk to re-join the GCAC, and the CofO to fully align with the
National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA), both effective after the 2020–21 academic year.
2021 – The AII was rebranded as the Continental Athletic Conference (CAC) in the 2021–22 academic year.
2022 – Three institutions left the CAC to join their respective new home primary conferences: Wilberforce to join the Mid-South, Lincoln Christian to discontinue its athletics program, and Cottey to join the American Midwest, all effective after the 2021–22 academic year.
2023 – Five institutions left the CAC, four to join their respective new home primary conferences: IUPUC to join the River States, North American to join the RRAC, USC Beaufort to fully realign in the NCAA Division II ranks and the
Peach Belt Conference (PBC), and Virgin Islands to join the GCAC, all effective after the 2022–23 academic year. The fifth, Iowa Wesleyan, ceased operations; originally they had planned to leave the CAC after the school got an invite to re-join the American Midwest prior to announcing their closure.
2023 – The College of the Ozarks (CofO) returned to the NAIA and re-joined the CAC (after two seasons competing as a full member of the NCCAA), alongside Wilberforce re-joining after competing one season in the Mid-South, both effective in the 2023–24 academic year.
2024 – Four institutions will leave the CAC to join their respective new home primary conferences: CofO to join the SAC, Crowley's Ridge to the American Midwest, and Voorhees and Wilberforce to join the GCAC, all effective after the 2023–24 academic year.
Schools that competes as independent in some sports that their own conference doesn't sponsor, competes in the CAC as affiliate members (except football).
^College of the Ozarks left the Independent/AII/Continental ranks after the 2020–21 school year before re-joining in 2023–24 and will leave it once again after said school year.
^The Cal State–San Marcos men's and women's basketball teams joined as an Independent 13 years after becoming a full member for other sports (2011–12).
^Iowa Wesleyan left the Independent/AII/Continental ranks after the 2012–13 school year before re-joining in 2021–22 school year and left once again after 2022–23 since the school closed the doors.
^Currently known as the University of Jamestown since 2013.
^Marygrove announced that all athletics would cease after the 2017 fall season (with men's & women's soccer and volleyball remaining) of the 2017–18 academic year; with their August 2017 announcement of the closing of school's undergraduate programs.[4]