The Midwest Conference (MWC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

's Division III. Member institutions are located in the

Midwestern United States The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

in the states of

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

, and

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. The Midwest Conference was created in 1994 with the merger of the Midwest Collegiate Athletic Conference, which had been sponsoring men's sports since 1921, and the Midwest Athletic Conference for Women, which was formed in 1977.

History

The organization of the Midwest Collegiate Athletic Conference (MCAC) was conceived at a meeting at Coe College on May 12, 1921. Charter members were Beloit College,

Carleton College Carleton College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1866, the main campus is between Northfield and the approximately Carleton ...

, Coe College, Cornell College,

Knox College (Illinois) Knox College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Galesburg, Illinois. Founded in 1837 by anti-slavery advocates, the college holds deep ties to the Underground Railroad movement. Wi ...

and

Lawrence University Lawrence University is a Private college, private liberal arts college and Music school, conservatory of music in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1847, its first classes were held on November 12, 1849. Lawrence was the second colle ...

Hamline University Hamline University ( ) is a private university in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1854, Hamline is the oldest university in Minnesota, the first coeducational university in the state, and is one of five Associated Colleges of th ...

and Millikin University joined the league in December 1921, but both of them later withdrew: Hamline after the 1929–30 academic year, and Millikin after the 1924–25 academic year. Ripon College joined the conference in 1923, followed by

Monmouth College Monmouth College is a Private college, private Presbyterian Church (USA), Presbyterian Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Monmouth, Illinois. It enrolls 727 students in Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science de ...

in 1924,

Grinnell College Grinnell College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, United States. It was founded in 1846 when a group of Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalis ...

in 1940 and Lake Forest College in 1974. Illinois College and St. Norbert College joined in 1982 and Carroll University followed in 1992. Carleton withdrew following the 1982–83 academic year. St. Olaf College also competed in the conference from 1952 to 1974, as did the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

from 1976 to 1987. Coe and Cornell withdrew following the 1996–97 academic year with Cornell rejoining the league starting in the 2012–13 year. Macalester College joined as a football-only member starting in 2014. The

returned as a football-only member in 2017, and added baseball to its conference membership in the 2019 season (2018–19 school year). The MWC split into North and South divisions for football, men's and women's tennis, baseball, and softball from 2012 through 2016. Divisional play ended with the departure of Carroll after the 2015–16 school year, and resumed for football only with the addition of the

as an affiliate member for the 2017–18 season. St. Norbert left in 2021 for the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference.

Chronological timeline

* 1921: The Midwest Conference (MWC) was founded as the Midwest Collegiate Athletic Conference (MCAC). Charter members included Beloit College,

, Coe College, Cornell College, Knox College and Lawrence College (now Lawrence University), effective beginning the 1921–22 academic year. * 1922:

and Millikin College (now Millikin University) joined the MCAC, effective in the 1922–23 academic year. * 1923: Ripon College joined the MCAC, effective in the 1923–24 academic year. * 1924:

joined the MCAC, effective in the 1924–25 academic year. * 1925: Millikin left the MCAC, effective after the 1924–25 academic year. * 1930: Hamline left the MCAC, effective after the 1929–30 academic year. * 1940:

joined the MCAC, effective in the 1940–41 academic year. * 1941: Carleton withdrew from the conference in June 1941. * 1946: Carleton rejoined the conference, effective for the spring 1946 track season. * 1952: St. Olaf College joined the MCAC, effective in the 1952–53 academic year. * 1974: St. Olaf left the MCAC, effective after the 1973–74 academic year. * 1974: Lake Forest College joined the MCAC, effective in the 1974–75 academic year. * 1976: The

joined the MCAC, effective in the 1976–77 academic year. * 1982: Illinois College and St. Norbert College joined the MCAC, effective in the 1982–83 academic year. * 1983: Carleton left the MCAC, effective after the 1982–83 academic year. * 1987: U. of Chicago left the MCAC to join the University Athletic Association (UAA), effective after the 1986–87 academic year. * 1992: Carroll College joined the MCAC, effective in the 1992–93 academic year. * 1994: The MCAC has been rebranded when the conference merged with the women's-only Midwest Athletic Conference for Women (MACW; founded since the 1977–78 school year) to become the Midwest Conference (MWC), effective in the 1994–95 academic year. * 1997: Coe and Cornell left the MWC, effective after the 1996–97 academic year. * 2012: Cornell re-joined back to the MWC, effective in the 2012–13 academic year. * 2014: Macalester College joined the MWC as an affiliate member for football, effective in the 2014 fall season (2014–15 academic year). * 2016: Carroll left the MWC to join the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW), effective after the 2015–16 academic year. * 2017: The University of Chicago re-joined back to the MWC, but as an affiliate member for football, effective in the 2017 fall season (2017–18 academic year). * 2018: The University of Chicago added baseball into its MWC affiliate membership, effective in the 2019 spring season (2018–19 academic year). * 2021: St. Norbert left the MWC as a full member to join the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC), effective after the 2020–21 academic year. St. Norbert would remain as an affiliate member for swimming & diving. * 2021: Macalester left the MWC as an affiliate member for football, effective after the 2020 fall season (2020–21 academic year). * 2025: The

Milwaukee School of Engineering The Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) is a private university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1903, the university has a primary focus on undergraduate engineering education with additional programs in business, mathem ...

joined the MWC as an affiliate member for swimming & diving, effective in the 2025-26 winter season. * 2026: Luther College will join the MWC, effective in the 2026–27 academic year.

Member schools

Every member in the history of the MWC and its predecessor conferences, whether full, affiliate, current, or former, has been a private school.

Current members

The MWC currently has nine full members. ;Notes

Future member

The MWC will have one future member.

Affiliate members

The MWC currently has three affiliate members. ;Notes:

Former members

The MWC had eight former full members. ;Notes:

Former affiliate members

The MWC had one former affiliate member.

Membership timeline

Sports

, the MWC sponsors the following sports:

Conference facilities

References

External links

* {{NCAA Division III football conference navbox