College lacrosse is played by student-athletes at

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

s and

universities A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and Canada. In both countries, men's

field lacrosse Field lacrosse is a full contact outdoor men's sport played with ten players on each team. The sport originated among Native Americans, and the modern rules of field lacrosse were initially codified by Canadian William George Beers in 1867. ...

and

women's lacrosse Women's lacrosse (or girls' lacrosse), sometimes shortened to lax, is a sport with twelve players on the field at a time (including the goalkeeper). Originally played by indigenous peoples of the Americas, the modern women's game was introduce ...

are played at both the varsity and club levels. College lacrosse in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

is sponsored by the

Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association The Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association (CUFLA) is an association of men's field lacrosse teams connected with several universities in Ontario and Quebec. Teams compete in the fall with league playoffs typically in early November. Hist ...

(CUFLA) and Maritime University Field Lacrosse League (MUFLL), while in the United States, varsity men's and women's lacrosse is governed by the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

(NCAA),

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 the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 separate regions ...

(NJCAA) and

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics 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 its st ...

(NAIA). There are also university lacrosse programs in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

History of college lacrosse

The first intercollegiate game in the United States was played on November 22, 1877 between

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

and Manhattan College. Lacrosse had been introduced in upstate New York in the 1860s. Lacrosse was further introduced to the Baltimore area in the 1890s. These two areas continue to be hotbeds of college lacrosse in the U.S. An organizing body for the sport, the U. S. National Amateur Lacrosse Association, was founded in 1879. The first intercollegiate lacrosse tournament was held in 1881, with Harvard beating

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ni ...

, 3–0, in the championship game. New York University and

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

also participated. In 1882 three colleges formed a league called the Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (ILA), which four other colleges soon joined. From this point through 1931, collegiate lacrosse associations chose an annual champion based on season records. In 1894, the Inter-University Lacrosse League (IULL) began play using slightly different rules. The two leagues merged in December 1905 to form the 8-team United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse League. The USILL was a closed-membership league, which excluded several lacrosse powers, such as the U.S. Naval Academy. The national championship was officially bestowed only upon teams that were included in the membership of these organizations. In 1912, the USILL established Northern and Southern Divisions and began conducting a post-season playoff. Harvard defeated Swarthmore, 7–3, in the first formal playoff. This system continued through 1925. As Navy was not a member of the USILL, its teams were not eligible for the championship, even though Navy had the best collegiate record in many of those years. Navy was undefeated from 1917 through 1923, a stretch of 40 games with one tie. The USILL was replaced by the

United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association The United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association is an association of member institutions and organizations with college lacrosse programs at all levels of competition, including the three NCAA divisions and non-NCAA schools, at both the varsi ...

in March, 1926, as an open-membership governing body. Six more teams became new USILA members, in addition to the former USILL teams. The USILA bestowed gold medals upon the teams that it selected as national champions through the 1931 season. No official champions were named from 1932 through 1935. In 1936, an award was established in the memory of a Baltimore sportswriter to recognize annually the most outstanding teams. From 1936 through 1972, the USILA executive board awarded the

Wingate Memorial Trophy The Wingate Memorial Trophy was the award given to the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) national champion in men's college lacrosse from 1936 to 1970, and the NCAA Men's Champion in 1971-1972. The first intercollegiate ...

to the national champions. From at least 1951, if not earlier, lacrosse divisions were officially named after legendary lacrosse-men. These were the Cy Miller, Laurie D. Cox, and Roy Taylor Divisions. They were more commonly referred to Division I, or A; Division II, or B; and Division III, or C. All college teams were placed in one of the three divisions, dependent upon their records, schedules, and success for the preceding five years, and a point system was created. Any team of the three divisions was eligible to win the national championship, but this was virtually impossible for non-Division I teams. A Division II team, playing several Division I teams, might have been able to achieve it. A team's record was required to include six games against teams in its own division. Teams were realigned every three years, again reflecting their records. All schools were eligible for the national rankings. The team that achieved the highest point total each year, however, was not guaranteed a solo national championship. The system served as guidance to the USILA executive board, who chose co-champions on frequent occasions. This point system prevailed with modifications until the NCAA in the early 1970s established the playoff system for determining champions. At its 1969 annual meeting in Baltimore, the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association voted for its first playoff tournament to determine a national champion. In 1971, the NCAA began sponsoring men's lacrosse and began holding an annual championship tournament for Division I schools. The USILA conducted a small college tournament for non-Division I schools in 1972 and 1973. In 1974, the NCAA took over the sponsorship of this tournament through the 1979 season, with separate tournaments being conducted in both 1980 and 1981 for Divisions II and III teams. The Division II tournament then was discontinued until returning in 1993.

Participation and scholarships

Lacrosse is one of the least diverse sports in America. As of 2018, about 18% of all Division I men’s lacrosse players were

people of color The term "person of color" ( : people of color or persons of color; abbreviated POC) is primarily used to describe any person who is not considered "white". In its current meaning, the term originated in, and is primarily associated with, the U ...

and there were just two

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...

head coaches and two black assistants of its 68 teams. In some circumstances, NCAA Division I schools can offer several scholarships that cover up to 50% of tuition costs. As of 2018, the average awarded D-1 men's lacrosse scholarship is about $12,000 a year.

NCAA men's lacrosse

The

(NCAA) is the largest association and governing body of collegiate athletics in the United States. The NCAA holds lacrosse championships for all three Divisions in men's and women's lacrosse. As of the 2022 season (2021–22 school year), the NCAA has 396 men's lacrosse programs and 525 women's lacrosse programs.

Division I men's lacrosse

In the 2022 season, Division I men's lacrosse had the smallest number of teams compared to the Division II and Division III levels. This distinction passed to Division II men's lacrosse for 2023. The most recent 2022 NCAA lacrosse season involved 74 NCAA Division I men's lacrosse teams organized into 11 conferences. The number of D-I teams increased to 76 in the 2023 season, but the number of conferences dropped to 10. These teams are heavily concentrated in the

Northeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

and Mid-Atlantic regions, and only five teams are not in the

Eastern Time Zone The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small por ...

(Air Force, Denver, Lindenwood, Marquette, and Utah). From 1936 through 1970 the

(USILA) selected the

winners as national champions based on regular season records. Beginning in

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

, the

began holding an annual

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

tournament.

Cornell Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach a ...

took the first title over

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, 12–6. Syracuse has 11 Division I titles (*one vacated later), Johns Hopkins 9,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

(7) and

6. The NCAA national championship weekend tournament normally draws over 80,000 fans. The most recent national champions from 2022 are the Maryland Terrapins. The most recent change to the conference lineup was announced during the 2022 NCAA tournament when the Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) made official its widely-rumored sponsorship of men's lacrosse effective in the 2023 season. This move, along with other moves during the early-2020s conference realignment, led to the

Northeast Conference The Northeast Conference (NEC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools are members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Teams in the NEC compete in Division I for all sports; football competes in the Division I Foo ...

and

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly k ...

dropping men's lacrosse after the 2022 season. Two men's lacrosse schools started transitions from Division II to Division I in July 2022. Lindenwood and Queens (NC) are playing men's lacrosse in the ASUN Conference, with Queens as a full member and Lindenwood as an affiliate. Hartford began a transition from Division I to Division III in the 2021–22 school year; the 2023 season will be its last in Division I before joining the

Commonwealth Coast Conference The Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA’s Division III. Member institutions are located in New England in the states of Maine, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, with a Connectic ...

in July 2023. In September 2018 the NCAA rules committee implemented an 80-second shot clock that begins upon possession. A team must advance the ball across midfield within the first 20 seconds, and then 60 seconds to shoot the ball once across midfield. The clock will only reset if the ball hits the goalie or the post. Failure to score before the shot clock runs out results in a change of possession. ;Conferences *

America East Conference The America East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I founded in 1979, whose members are located in the Northeastern United States. The conference has nine core members including eight public research ...

* ASUN Conference *

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

* Atlantic 10 Conference *

Big East Conference The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

* Colonial Athletic Association * Independents *

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight schools ...

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC, ) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I. Of its current 11 full members, 10 are located in three states of the northeastern United States: Connecticut, New Jersey, and ...

* Patriot League

Division II men's lacrosse

Division II lacrosse is made up of 75 teams, mainly located in the

and

Southeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

. The USILA conducted a "small college" lacrosse championship tournament in 1972 and 1973. Division II men's lacrosse held its first NCAA tournament in 1974 with an eight-team bracket. The format remained the same until 1980, when the field dropped to just two teams as the Division III tournament was inaugurated. From 1982 through 1992, a Division II playoff was not conducted. In 2001, a four-team bracket was instituted. The Division II men’s lacrosse championship bracket expanded from four to eight teams starting with the 2013 season.

Adelphi University Adelphi University is a private university in Garden City, New York. Adelphi also has centers in Manhattan, Hudson Valley, and Suffolk County. There is also a virtual, online campus for remote students. It is the oldest institution of higher ed ...

currently holds the record for the number of D-II championships, with seven and also appeared in the championship a record 11 times. NCAA Division II lacrosse programs are organized into eight conferences, as well as independent programs consisting of mainly new D-II lacrosse teams. The newest addition to the roster of Division II men's lacrosse conferences came in 2017–18 when the

Great Lakes Valley Conference The Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Its thirteen member institutions are located in the U.S. states of Illinois ...

began sponsoring men's lacrosse. On December 2, 2014; the University of Alabama In Huntsville (UAH) announced the additional of Men's and Women's Lacrosse programs. These programs began competition with the 2016 season, initially as independents. The most recent Division II men's national champions are the

Tampa Spartans The Tampa Spartans are the athletic teams that represent the University of Tampa, located in Tampa, Florida, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. The Spartans compete as members of the Sunshine State Conference for all sports besides beach ...

. Conferences: *

Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference The Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (or CACC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Its fourteen member institutions are located in the northeastern ...

Conference Carolinas Conference Carolinas, formerly known as the Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference (CVAC) or the Carolinas Conference, is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) primarily at the Divisio ...

East Coast Conference The East Coast Conference (ECC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Member institutions are located in the northeastern United States in the states of C ...

Great Midwest Athletic Conference The Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. It was named the 24th (at the time) NCAA Division II conference and oper ...

* Independents *

Northeast-10 Conference The Northeast-10 Conference (NE-10) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Member institutions are located in the northeastern United States in the states o ...

Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC), commonly known as the Rocky Mountain Conference (RMC) from approximately 1910 through the late 1960s, is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (N ...

South Atlantic Conference The South Atlantic Conference (SAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the southeastern United States. The SAC was founded in 1975 as a ...

* Sunshine State Conference

Division III men's lacrosse

The majority of schools playing NCAA men's lacrosse play in Division III, with 247 in all. Most Division III lacrosse teams are located in the

, with only seven programs west of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

. The USILA conducted a "small college" championship in 1972 and 1973. The NCAA Division III championship originally was combined with Division II from 1974–1979, before the NCAA split the non-Division I schools into separate Division II and III tournaments in 1980.

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

has made a record 15 appearances in the championship game and won a total of 13 championships. Hobart lacrosse also won the championship the first 12 years it was held from 1980–1991. The 12 consecutive championships are an NCAA record but Hobart has not won again since 1993, and now plays at the Division I level.

Salisbury University Salisbury University is a public university in Salisbury, Maryland. Founded in 1925, Salisbury is a member of the University System of Maryland, with a fall 2016 enrollment of 8,748. Salisbury University offers 42 distinct undergraduate and 14 ...

now follows closely with 12 non-consecutive championships and 17 appearances. NCAA Division III lacrosse programs are organized into 24 conferences and over 20 independent programs. The defending Division III national champions are the

RIT Tigers The RIT Tigers are composed of 22 teams representing Rochester Institute of Technology in intercollegiate athletics, including men and women's basketball, crew, cross country, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis, and track and ...

. Conferences: *

Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference The Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. Member institutions are located in the northeastern United States in the states of New York and Pennsylvania. ...

Centennial Conference The Centennial Conference is an athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. Member teams are located in Maryland and Pennsylvania. Eleven private colleges compose the Centennial Conference. Five of ten members of the Centenn ...

* Coast to Coast Athletic Conference *

College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin The College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) is a college athletic conference which competes in the Division III level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). CCIW schools have accounted for 50 national championships i ...

Colonial States Athletic Conference The Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) is an NCAA Division III collegiate athletic conference in the Mid-Atlantic United States. There are currently nine full member institutions as of 2018. The conference's membership, as with most Mid ...

Empire 8 The Empire 8 (E8) is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. The E8 sponsors intercollegiate athletic competition in men's baseball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, women's ...

Great Northeast Athletic Conference The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III. History Chronological timeline * 1995 - In 1995, the Great Northeast Athletic ...

Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference The Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. Member institutions are located in Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. Founded as the Indiana Collegiate Athletic Confe ...

* Independents *

Landmark Conference The Landmark Conference is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. Member institutions are located in the eastern United States in the states of Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, plus Washington, D.C. ...

Liberty League The Liberty League is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division III. Member schools are top institutions that are all located in the state of New York. History It was founde ...

Little East Conference The Little East Conference (LEC) is an NCAA Division III intercollegiate athletic conference. The member institutions are located in all six states of New England. History Chronological timeline * 1986 - On April 28, 1986, the Little East Conf ...

Middle Atlantic Conference The Middle Atlantic Conferences (MAC) is an umbrella organization of three athletic conferences that competes in the NCAA's Division III. The 18 member colleges are in the Mid-Atlantic United States. The organization is divided into two main c ...

Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association The Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) is an athletic conference that competes in the NCAA's Division III. There are nine teams in the conference, all located in the states of Michigan and Indiana. The Michigan Intercollegiate A ...

Midwest Lacrosse Conference The Midwest Lacrosse Conference (MLC) is a men's National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III lacrosse-only college athletic conference composed of schools located in the Midwestern United States. All schools are members of confe ...

New England Collegiate Conference The New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) is an National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division III, Division III List of college athletic conferences in the United States, college athletic conference based in the Northeastern Uni ...

New England Small College Athletic Conference The New England Small Collegiate Athletic Conference (NESCAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising sports teams from eleven highly selective liberal arts institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. ...

New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference The New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. Member institutions are located in the northeastern United States in the states of Connecticut and ...

North Atlantic Conference The North Atlantic Conference (NAC) is an athletic conference, affiliated with the NCAA ’s Division III, consisting primarily of small liberal arts colleges in the Northern New England states of Maine and Vermont, as well as New York. The con ...

North Coast Athletic Conference The North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) is an NCAA Division III athletic conference composed of colleges located in Ohio and Indiana. When founded in 1984, the league was a pioneer in gender equality, offering competition in a then-unprecede ...

Ohio Athletic Conference The Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) was formed in 1902 and is the third oldest athletic conference in the United States. Its current commissioner is Sarah Otey. Former commissioners include Mike Cleary, who was the first General Manager of a profe ...

Old Dominion Athletic Conference The Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) is an NCAA Division III athletic conference. Of its 15 member schools, all but one are located in Virginia; the other full member is in North Carolina. The conference also has an associate member in Nort ...

Presidents' Athletic Conference The Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) is an athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. Of its 11 current member schools, all private, liberal arts institutions of higher learning, nine are located in Western Pennsylvania. T ...

Skyline Conference The Skyline Conference is a college athletic conference based in the New York City area that competes in the NCAA's Division III. The league was originally chartered on May 16, 1989, as a men's basketball conference and now sponsors 17 sports (ni ...

Southern Athletic Association The Southern Athletic Association (SAA) is a college athletic conference in NCAA Division III that began play in the 2012–13 school year. It was formed in 2011 by seven former members of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference and indepe ...

Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference The Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC), founded in 1962, is an athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. Member institutions are located in Colorado, Louisiana, and Texas. Difficulties related to travel distanc ...

* State University of New York Athletic Conference *

United East Conference The United East Conference (UEC), formerly known as the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC), is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. Member institutions are located in the Mid-Atlantic region of t ...

USA South Athletic Conference The USA South Athletic Conference (formerly the Dixie Intercollegiate Athletic Conference or the Dixie Conference) is an athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. Member schools are located in North Carolina and Virginia. H ...

NCAA women's lacrosse

Women's college lacrosse differs significantly from men's lacrosse in terms of rules and equipment. The NCAA holds lacrosse championships for all three divisions and currently has 524 women's lacrosse programs. Women's collegiate lacrosse was originally governed by the U.S. Women's Lacrosse Association, which joined with the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) to determine an annual champion. The USWLA and AIAW conducted championships from 1978–1982 before being usurped by the NCAA. The NCAA began sponsoring a Division III championship in 1985 and added a Division II championship in 2001.

Division I women's lacrosse

The NCAA began sponsoring a women's lacrosse championship in 1982. Lacrosse has grown into 120 NCAA Division I women's lacrosse teams organized into 15 conferences. Only 12 programs are located outside the Eastern Time Zone— Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Denver, six

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

members, and three California schools outside the Pac-12. Of these 12 schools, only Denver also sponsors varsity men's lacrosse. The most recent change to the lineup of women's lacrosse conferences came during the 2021 offseason, when the

Mountain Pacific Sports Federation The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) is a college athletic conference with members located mostly in the western United States, although it now has members as far east as Pennsylvania. The conference participates at the NCAA Division I ...

(MPSF) and

(SoCon) dropped women's lacrosse. The MPSF, which had previously dropped to three women's lacrosse schools when the

established a women's lacrosse league, lost one of them when

Fresno State California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bachelo ...

dropped the sport, leaving

San Diego State San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

and

UC Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...

to become independent. Both played as independents in the 2022 season, and will remain such in 2023 until joining Pac-12 women's lacrosse after that season. The three full SoCon members that sponsored the sport ( Furman,

Mercer Mercer may refer to: Business * Mercer (car), a defunct American automobile manufacturer (1909–1925) * Mercer (consulting firm), a large human resources consulting firm headquartered in New York City * Mercer (occupation), a merchant or trader, ...

, Wofford) became single-sport members of the Big South Conference, while the two associate members,

Coastal Carolina Coastal Carolina University (CCU or Coastal) is a public university in Conway, South Carolina. Founded in 1954 as Coastal Carolina Junior College, and later joining the University of South Carolina System as USC Coastal Carolina, it became an in ...

and

Delaware State Delaware State University (DSU or Del State) is a public historically black land-grant research university in Dover, Delaware. DSU also has two satellite campuses: one in Wilmington and one in Georgetown. The university encompasses four colle ...

, rejoined ASUN Conference women's lacrosse. Six schools will start Division I play in the 2023 season. Three existing D-I members are launching new teams in that season— Clemson will compete in its all-sports home of the ACC;

Fairleigh Dickinson Fairleigh Dickinson University is a private university with its main campuses in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Founded in 1942, Fairleigh Dickinson University currently offers more than 100 degree programs to its students. In addition to its tw ...

will compete in its all-sports home of the

(NEC), and Xavier will play as an independent before joining its full-time home of the

in the 2024 season. Three others began transitions from D-II to D-I in July 2022.

Lindenwood Lindenwood may refer to a place in the United States: *Lindenwood, Illinois *Lindenwood, Queens, New York *Lindenwood Cemetery, Fort Wayne, Indiana In education: * Lindenwood University Lindenwood University is a private university in St. Ch ...

and Queens (NC) will play women's lacrosse in the ASUN Conference, with Queens as a full member and Lindenwood as an associate member, while Stonehill will play in its new full-time home of the NEC. The 2023 season is the last for Hartford in Division I competition; it will play that season as an independent before joining the Division III

. The 2024 season will also see the debut of South Florida in its full-time home of the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) ...

. Two schools will debut in the 2025 season—

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

in The American, which it joins in 2023, and

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...

in its full-time home of the Atlantic 10 Conference. The defending Division I national champions are the North Carolina Tar Heels. Conferences: *

* ASUN Conference * Atlantic 10 Conference *

* Big South Conference *

* Colonial Athletic Association * Independents *

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great L ...

* Patriot League

Division II women's lacrosse

A total of 114 programs compete at the Division II level. Division II women's lacrosse is one of the newest championships sponsored by the NCAA. The first Division II women's lacrosse championship was held in 2001, when

C.W. Post Charles William Post (October 26, 1854 – May 9, 1914) was an American innovator, breakfast cereal and foods manufacturer and a pioneer in the prepared-food industry. He was the founder of what is now Post Consumer Brands. Early life Char ...

beat West Chester 13–9. Since then, the Division II level has been dominated, much like its men's counterpart, by

with nine national championships, most recently in 2019. The 114 NCAA Division II women's lacrosse programs are organized into 10 conferences, as well as independent programs. The defending Division II national champions are the

Indianapolis Greyhounds The Indianapolis Greyhounds, also UIndy Greyhounds and formerly the Indiana Central Greyhounds, are the athletic teams that represent the University of Indianapolis, located in Indianapolis, Indiana, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. T ...

. Conferences: *

Gulf South Conference The Gulf South Conference (GSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the Southeastern United States. History Originally known as the Mi ...

* Independents *

Mountain East Conference The Mountain East Conference (MEC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level and officially began competition on September 1, 2013. It consists of 12 schools, mo ...

Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. The conference was originally formed in 1951 as the State Teachers C ...

* Sunshine State Conference

Division III women's lacrosse

Baldwin Wallace Yellow Jackets Women's Lacrosse - 51967697806

The NCAA Division III level is made up of 291 women's lacrosse teams. It is the largest women's lacrosse division and also the largest NCAA lacrosse division, surpassing the number of men's Division III teams by 44 members. The defending Division III national champions are the

Middlebury Panthers The Middlebury Panthers are the 31 varsity teams of Middlebury College that compete in the New England Small College Athletic Conference. The Panthers lead the NESCAC in total number of national championships, having won 34 team titles since the c ...

. Conferences: *

* Coast to Coast Athletic Conference *

* Independents *

Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference The Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. Full member institutions are all located in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with some affiliate m ...

Midwest Women's Lacrosse Conference The Midwest Women's Lacrosse Conference (MWLC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III women's lacrosse-only college athletic conference composed of schools located in the Midwestern United States. All schools are membe ...

New Jersey Athletic Conference The New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC), formerly the New Jersey State Athletic Conference, is a college athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. All of its full members are public universities in New Jersey. Affiliate membe ...

Ohio River Lacrosse Conference The Ohio River Lacrosse Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association NCAA Division III, Division III men's and women's lacrosse National Collegiate Athletic Association#Conferences, conference located primarily in the midwestern United ...

Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) is a college athletic conference that operates in the NCAA's Division III. The conference was founded in 1915 and it consists of twelve small private schools that are located i ...

* State University of New York Athletic Conference *

NAIA lacrosse

As of October, 2016, There are a 39

(NAIA) schools that offer men’s and/or women’s varsity lacrosse, Lacrosse is an officially recognized sport by the NAIA. NAIA programs are currently in year two of NAIA invitational sport status. During this phase of recognition, teams compete to participate in a post season championship called the NAIA National Invitational. Each conference and A.I.I group receive one automatic qualifier with the remaining four bids going to the highest remaining teams from the NAIA national ranking. NAIA programs also regularly compete against NCAA DII and DIII teams. The Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) announced on January 27, 2012, the addition of lacrosse for both men and women as conference sports effective the fall of 2012. The WHAC was the first conference in the NAIA to offer lacrosse as a conference championship sport. The Appalachian Athletics Conference and the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference recognized lacrosse as a conference sport in the Fall of 2015.

NJCAA lacrosse

The

(NJCAA) is the primary governing body of

athletic programs in the USA and currently oversees 21 men's and 11 women's lacrosse programs predominately in the

Northeastern United States The Northeastern United States, also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast, is a geographic region of the United States. It is located on the Atlantic coast of North America, with Canada to its north, the Southe ...

. The NJCAA lacrosse programs do not compete in their regular conferences, but instead are ranked within their NJCAA Regions. The NJCAA has sponsored a men's lacrosse championship since 1970 and a women's lacrosse championship since 2004. There are also new lacrosse programs at community colleges that are not members of the NJCAA, such as the

California Community College Athletic Association The California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) is a sports association of community colleges in the U.S. state of California. It oversees 108 athletic programs throughout the state. The organization was formed in 1929 as the Calif ...

, which does not sponsor the sport at this time.

Men's club lacrosse

Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA)

The Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA), formerly known as the US Lacrosse Men’s Division of Intercollegiate Associates (USL MDIA), is a national organization of non-NCAA, college men's

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensiv ...

programs. The MCLA was created by the MDIA Board of Directors and its creation was announced by

US Lacrosse USA Lacrosse is the national governing body of men and women's lacrosse in the United States. It provides a leadership role in virtually every aspect of the game and has more than 450,000 members throughout the United States, and offers programs ...

on August 24, 2006. The MCLA oversees play and conducts national championships for 184 non-NCAA men's lacrosse programs in 10 conferences and in two divisions throughout the country. The defending National Champions at the MCLA Division 1 Level are the Grand Canyon University Antelopes. The Division II National Champions are the Concordia-Irvine Eagles. Conferences: * Central Collegiate Lacrosse Association * Great Rivers Lacrosse Conference *

Lone Star Alliance The Lone Star Alliance (LSA) is a lacrosse-only athletic conference affiliated with the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA). The conference incorporates teams in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska and is ...

* Pacific Northwest Collegiate Lacrosse League *

Pioneer Collegiate Lacrosse League The Pioneer Collegiate Lacrosse League (PCLL) was a conference in the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA). The PCLL primarily incorporates teams in New England and New York (state), New York and is divided into two divisions, Division 1 a ...

Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Conference The Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Conference (RMLC) is one of ten conferences in the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association. Currently the RMLC consists of 15 teams encompassing four Rocky Mountain states; Colorado, Utah, Montana, and Wyoming. It is div ...

* Southeastern Lacrosse Conference *

Southwestern Lacrosse Conference The Southwestern Lacrosse Conference (SLC) is a lacrosse-only athletic conference affiliated with the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA). The conference incorporates teams from California and Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahood ...

* Upper Midwest Lacrosse Conference * Western Collegiate Lacrosse League

National College Lacrosse League (NCLL)

The National College Lacrosse League (NCLL) is a men's lacrosse league comprising mostly Eastern US college lacrosse clubs (non-varsity). There are approximately 130 teams divided into 12 conferences. The programs are split into Division I and Division II. Many of the clubs are at schools that currently have varsity NCAA Men's lacrosse programs. Conferences: * Blue Ridge Conference * Capitol Conference * Chesapeake Conference * Deep South Lacrosse Conference *Eastern Pennsylvania Conference * Empire East Conference * Empire West Conference * Keystone Conference * Liberty Conference * Midwest North Conference * Midwest South Conference * NY Metro Conference * Tidewater Conference

Other U.S. college club lacrosse leagues

* Great Lakes Lacrosse League (GLLL) * California Junior College Lacrosse Association (CJCLA)

Women's club lacrosse

Women's Collegiate Lacrosse Associates (WCLA)

The Women's Collegiate Lacrosse Associates (WCLA) is a collection of over 260 college club teams that compete under the

umbrella. Teams are organized into various leagues and two divisions. The association regulates different aspects of the teams, including minimum number of games played. A recent rule modification allows community colleges to become members. Teams that have been classified as either Division I or Division II have the opportunity to compete in a national championship each spring under US Lacrosse.
Central Plains Women's Lacrosse League

Central Women's Lacrosse League
* Carolina Women's Lacrosse League * East Coast Women's Lacrosse Association * Mid Atlantic Women's Lacrosse League * North East Women's Lacrosse League
Rocky Mountain Women's Lacrosse League

Southeastern Women's Lacrosse League

Texas Women's Lacrosse League

Western Women's Lacrosse League

Women's Collegiate Lacrosse League

Women's Lacrosse Association

References

External links

Lacrosse (men's)
at NCAA
Lacrosse (women's)
at NCAA {{DEFAULTSORT:College Lacrosse

History of college lacrosse

Participation and scholarships

NCAA men's lacrosse

Division I men's lacrosse

Division II men's lacrosse

Division III men's lacrosse

NCAA women's lacrosse

Division I women's lacrosse

Division II women's lacrosse

Division III women's lacrosse

NAIA lacrosse

NJCAA lacrosse

Men's club lacrosse

Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA)

National College Lacrosse League (NCLL)

Other U.S. college club lacrosse leagues

Women's club lacrosse

Women's Collegiate Lacrosse Associates (WCLA)

See also

References

External links