At its launch, the MEC had 11 football members, with Wheeling (then known as Wheeling Jesuit) being the only non-football school.[3] On February 15, 2013, the NCAA accepted the MEC as its 25th D2 conference.[6] The 2015–16 school year was the first in which MEC teams were eligible for automatic bids to NCAA Division II championships; before then, they were eligible only for at-large bids.[6]
In 2018, UVA Wise and the South Atlantic Conference (SAC) jointly announced on April 13 that UVA Wise would leave the MEC to join the SAC for 2019–20 and beyond.[7] Next, Shepherd and the PSAC jointly announced on June 7 that Shepherd would join the PSAC in 2019, becoming that league's first full member outside of Pennsylvania.[8] The MEC would replace both members in the ensuing months. On July 5, the Mountain East Conference announced that Frostburg State University had accepted an offer of membership beginning with the 2019–20 academic year, contingent upon Frostburg State achieving active membership status in NCAA Division II (which would occur on the announced schedule).[9] Finally, on August 30, the MEC announced two additional new members effective in 2019–20. Davis & Elkins College would become a full member, and the University of North Carolina at Pembroke (UNC Pembroke) would join in five sports. UNC Pembroke began MEC competition in men's and women's indoor track & field, women's swimming & diving, and wrestling in 2019, with football following in 2020.[10]
Multiple MEC membership changes were announced in 2020. On April 16, multi-sport associate member UNC Pembroke announced it would join Conference Carolinas (CC) effective in 2021–22. Because CC sponsors all of the non-football sports that UNCP housed in the MEC, UNCP is now an MEC member only in football.[11] Five days later, charter member Urbana announced it would close at the end of the 2019–20 school year.[12] Finally, on June 5, Alderson Broaddus University, a West Virginia school left out of the WVIAC split, announced that it would leave the G-MAC to join the MEC the following month.[13] However, their tenure in the MEC was short-lived, as on July 31, 2023, Alderson Broaddus' authorization to grant degrees was revoked, resulting in the immediate suspension of all athletics.[14]
In 2024, charter member Notre Dame College announced it would shut down.[15] That same year, it was announced that Point Park University would join the conference from the NAIARiver States Conference. This marked the MEC’s first member in Pennsylvania.[16]
The University of North Carolina at Pembroke (UNC Pembroke) joined the MEC as an associate member for men's and women's indoor track & field, women's swimming & diving and wrestling in the 2019–20 academic year.
UNC Pembroke added football to its MEC associate membership in the 2020 fall season (2020–21 academic year).
2021 – UNC Pembroke left the MEC as an associate member for men's and women's indoor track & field, women's swimming & diving and wrestling after the 2020–21 academic year.
2023 – Alderson Broaddus left the MEC before the 2023–24 academic year began, as the school had suspended all athletic programs. For the 2023-2024 academic year, the Mountain East Conference announced a non-conference scheduling agreement with NCAA Division II Independent and former WVIAC member Salem University to fill in the scheduling gaps left by the Alderson Broaddus' closure. The Tigers would compete against MEC schools in baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s soccer, softball, and women’s volleyball.[17]
Notre Dame announced it would permanently close at the end of the 2023–24 academic year.[15]
Dominican University of California joined the MEC as an associate member for women's lacrosse for the 2025 seasons (2024–25 academic year). Dominican will not play regular season games against MEC member schools, but will participate in the conference women's lacrosse tournament in order for the MEC to maintain the 6 member minimum required to maintain an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II women's lacrosse tournament.[18]
Salem joined the MEC as an associate member for men's and women's swimming & diving and men's wrestling for the 2024–25 academic year. Additionally, the MEC also announced it would extend the non-conference scheduling agreement it made with Salem through the 2024–25 academic year.[19]
2025 – UNC Pembroke will leave the MEC as an associate member for football after the 2024 fall season (2024–25 academic year), thus ending its associate membership within the conference.
Member schools
Current members
The Mountain East currently has 11 full members, with five being private and six being public schools. Reclassifying members listed in yellow.
^Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
^Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
^Salem also has a non-conference scheduling agreement with the MEC for baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s soccer, softball, and women’s volleyball.[19]
Former members
The Mountain East had five former full members; three are private schools which left the MEC when the schools closed, while two are public schools that remain in operation.
^Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
^Represents the calendar year when spring sports competition ends.
Former associate member
Current Mountain East football associate UNC Pembroke had housed four sports in the MEC before it joined a conference that sponsored all of those sports.
^Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
^Represents the calendar year when spring sports competition ends.
Membership timeline
Full members (all sports) Full members (non-football) Associate members (football-only) Associate members (other)
Sports
The MEC sponsored 16 sports in all, eight each for men and women, at its formation.[3]Women's lacrosse became the 17th conference sport for the 2014–15 school year (2015 season). Men's and women's swimming and diving were added as the 18th and 19th conference sports for 2017–18, with the MEC and Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) forming a swimming and diving alliance that conducts a joint conference championship meet.[25] The following school year saw the MEC add acrobatics & tumbling as an official sport, two years before it was added to the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program.[26] The MEC was the first NCAA conference to establish acrobatics & tumbling as an official sport.[27] The most recently added sports are men's and women's indoor track & field and wrestling, which debuted in 2019–20.[10]
A divisional format is used for basketball (M/W), baseball, soccer (W), softball and volleyball (W).
^De facto Division I sport. The NCAA operates a joint Division I/II championship, with D-I and D-II schools operating under the same scholarship limits.
^ abPoint Park has not yet announced an affiliation for its men's lacrosse or women's wrestling teams.
In addition to the above:
Charleston considers its female cheerleaders (but not its male cheerleaders) to be varsity athletes.
Glenville State considers its female cheerleaders (but not its male cheerleaders) to be varsity athletes. It also fields men's and women's teams in the non-NCAA sport of boxing.
Notre Dame fields varsity teams in the non-NCAA sports of men's bowling and men's rugby.
Wheeling fields a varsity team in the non-NCAA sport of men's rugby.
Future member Point Park considers its cheerleaders, both male and female, and its all-female dance team to be varsity athletes. It also sponsors a varsity esports program, with men and women competing alongside and against one another.
