NCAA Division III independent schools are four-year institutions that compete in
college athletics
College athletics encompasses non- professional, collegiate and university-level competitive sports and games.
World University Games
The first World University Games were held in 1923. There were originally called the ''Union Nationale de ...
at the
NCAA Division III
NCAA Division III (D-III) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletic scholarships to their stu ...
level, but do not belong to an established
athletic conference
An athletic conference is a collection of sports teams, playing competitively against each other in a sports league. In many cases conferences are subdivided into smaller divisions, with the best teams competing at successively higher levels. Confe ...
for a particular sport. These schools may however still compete as members of an athletic conference in other sports. A school may also be fully independent, and not belong to any athletic conference for any sport at all. The reason for independent status varies among institutions, but it is frequently because the school's primary athletic conference does not sponsor a particular sport.
Full independents
Departing members are highlighted in pink.
Current members
;Notes:
Former members
;Notes:
Football
Departing members are highlighted in pink.
Potential future independent
Lyon College
, mottoeng = Perseverance Conquers All, God Willing.
, established =
, type = Private college
, president = Melissa Taverner
, city = Batesville
, state = Arkansas
, country = United States
, students = 665
, faculty = 61
, campus = Rural town ...
started a transition from
NAIA in 2022–23, and will join the D-III
St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in 2023 — which does not sponsor football. Lyon already announced that will join the
Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference as a football-only affiliate starting in the 2024 season. Consequently, Lyon will probably be a football independent in the 2023 season.
Field hockey
† - Women's college, therefore not competing in men's sports.
Golf
Men
Women
† - Women's college, therefore not competing in men's sports.
Potential future independent
Hartford started a transition from
NCAA Division I
NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athleti ...
in 2021–22, and will join the D-III Commonwealth Coast Conference—which sponsors golf only for men—in July 2023.
Ice hockey
Men
Women
Lacrosse
Men
Rowing
Swimming & diving
Men
Women
† - Women's college, therefore not competing in men's sports.
;Notes
Tennis
Men
Track & field (indoor)
Men
Women
Track & field (outdoor)
Men
;Notes
Volleyball (indoor)
Men
Wrestling
Emerging sports for women
Acrobatics & tumbling
Rugby
Triathlon
See also
*
NCAA Division I independent schools
*
NCAA Division II independent schools
NCAA Division II independent schools are four-year institutions that compete in college athletics at the NCAA Division II level, but do not belong to an established athletic conference
An athletic conference is a collection of sports teams, play ...
*
NAIA independent schools
{{NCAA Division III football conference navbox
Independents
Division III