Since the addition of those five institutions, the league has added football, indoor track and field, and outdoor track and field as championship sports. The expansion continued in 2003–04 as the conference added another three championships – men's swimming and diving, women's swimming and diving, and men's ice hockey. However, because the NE10 is the sole Division II men's ice hockey league, its postseason champion cannot compete for the NCAA national hockey championship.
David Brunk, the first full-time commissioner in league history, announced in April he was resigning July 1, 2007 to take over the Peach Belt Conference. Brunk had been commissioner since 1998. Julie Ruppert became the next full-time commissioner in June 2008, becoming the first female Division II commissioner in the country.
In 2008, Bryant University announced it would begin the five-year process that would make them a full Division I member by 2012; at the same time the NE10 announced that it had given a bid to University of New Haven and they had accepted. In December 2007, Adelphi University announced it had joined the league and began playing in 2009–10. To start the 2008–09 academic year the NE10 still had 15 members and expanded to 16 in 2009-10.
On July 1, 2013, UMass Lowell left the NE10 to join the Division I America East Conference. With the departure of UMass Lowell, the Northeast-10 Conference had 15 remaining members.
Two other changes to the conference membership, both taking effect with the 2019–20 school year, were announced in 2018. First, Merrimack announced that it would begin a transition to Division I and join the Northeast Conference (the same move that Bryant made in 2008).[2] Then, Long Island University announced that it would unify its two athletic programs—the Division I LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds and the Division II LIU Post Pioneers, the latter of which was a NE10 affiliate member in field hockey and football at the time of announcement—into a single D-I athletic program under the LIU name. As such, the LIU Post field hockey team was merged with LIU Brooklyn's previously existing team in that sport, and the LIU Post football team became the new LIU football team, competing as a Division I FCS team in the Northeast Conference.[3] Thus, the NE10 was at a total of 14 member schools. In 2022, the number was reduced to 13 with Stonehill College's announcement of its departure for Division I's Northeast Conference (NEC).[4]
The next change in conference membership took place on July 1, 2023 when Le Moyne left for the NEC, dropping the NE10 to 12 members for the 2023-24 season.[5]
In 2023, St. Rose announced it was ceasing operations after the 2023-24 academic year, dropping the NE10 to 11 members effective for the 2024-25 season.
2013 - UMass–Lowell left the NE10 to join the NCAA Division I ranks and the America East Conference after the 2012-13 academic year.
2013 - LIU–Post re-joined the NE10 as an affiliate member for football (but also included field hockey) in the 2013 fall season (2013-14 academic year).
2019 - Merrimack left the NE10 to join the NCAA Division I ranks and the NEC after the 2018-19 academic year.
2019 - LIU–Post left the NE10 as an affiliate member for football and field hockey, as the school announced that it would merge with LIU–Brooklyn to unify its athletic programs after the 2018 fall season (2018-19 academic year).
2022 - Stonehill left the NE-10 to join the NCAA Division I ranks and the NEC after the 2021–22 academic year.
2023 – Le Moyne left the NE-10 to join the NCAA Division I ranks and the NEC after the 2022–23 academic year.
2023 - The College of Staten Island joined the NE-10 as an associate member in both men's and women's swimming and diving effective in the 2023-24 academic year.
2024 - Saint Rose left the NE-10 as the school announced that it would close its doors after the 2023–24 academic year.
2024 - Post University added football to its associate membership, effective in the 2024 season.
2025 - American International men's ice hockey rejoins the conference after moving down from Division I to Division II
Member schools
Current members
The NE10 currently has 11 full members; all but one are private schools.
^Long Island University merged the Post athletic program with the NCAA Division I program of its Brooklyn campus in 2019. The merged program inherited the Division I membership of the Brooklyn campus, and now competes in the Northeast Conference as the LIU Sharks.
Membership timeline
Full member (all sports) Full member (non-football) Associate member (football) Associate member (other)
^On November 12, 2024 AIC administration informed members of its hockey team that the Yellow Jacks will move ice hockey back to the Division II level beginning in the 2025-26 season. [6]
^ abcdefDe facto Division I sport. The NCAA conducts combined national championships open to Division I and Division II members in both men's and women's ice hockey, as well as men's volleyball. All NE10 schools with women's ice hockey teams play at this level, as do two of the conference's men's teams. Single national championship meets open to members of all three NCAA divisions are held in bowling, women's gymnastics, and skiing.