By athletic conference

A conference as a group of colleges: how its members compare on admissions, cost, and size, how that changed, and who joined or left.

The Power 4, side by side

The four largest football conferences' member colleges: how selective, how costly, and how big the median member is, and how much its applications grew from fall 2014 to fall 2024.

Southeastern Conference

16 members on the site · medians

Acceptance rate, fall 202467%
Average total cost, 2023–24$29,019
Undergraduates, fall 202429.2K
Applications, fall 2014 to fall 2024+106%

See the conference

Big Ten Conference

18 members on the site · medians

Acceptance rate, fall 202454%
Average total cost, 2023–24$32,640
Undergraduates, fall 202433.8K
Applications, fall 2014 to fall 2024+87%

See the conference

Atlantic Coast Conference

18 members on the site · medians

Acceptance rate, fall 202420%
Average total cost, 2023–24$40,102
Undergraduates, fall 202416.5K
Applications, fall 2014 to fall 2024+70%

See the conference

Big Twelve Conference

16 members on the site · medians

Acceptance rate, fall 202480%
Average total cost, 2023–24$25,707
Undergraduates, fall 202428.6K
Applications, fall 2014 to fall 2024+70%

See the conference

Median member of each conference, today's members (). Applications is the median member's own change. Each measure's bars share one scale across the four cards. 127 conferences in all.

Every conference

127 conferences with a member on the site, by level, A to Z; tap a column to sort. 107 have 8 or more members, enough for a . Acceptance rate is fall 2024, average cost 2023–24, and applications the median member's change from fall 2014 to fall 2024.

Athletic conferences by level with their members' medians

Division I FBS
American Athletic Conference	13	72%	$21,153	+83%
Atlantic Coast Conference	18	20%	$40,102	+70%
Big Ten Conference	18	54%	$32,640	+87%
Big Twelve Conference	16	80%	$25,707	+70%
Conference USA	12	88%	$18,914	+60%
Mid-American Conference	13	81%	$23,673	+38%
Mountain West Conference	12	88%	$24,177	+60%
Pacific-12 Conference	2	Too few members to summarize (under 8)
Southeastern Conference	16	67%	$29,019	+106%
Sun Belt Conference	14	87%	$18,622	+76%
Division I FCS
Big Sky Conference	9	90%	$20,495	+47%
Ivy Group	9	5%	$55,485	+64%
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference	9	82%	$20,104	+149%
Northeast Conference	9	81%	$29,407	+37%
Ohio Valley Conference	10	72%	$18,650	+73%
Patriot League	10	22%	$55,520	+38%
Pioneer Football League	Football only · 11	Members' main conferences differ
Southern Conference	10	76%	$26,608	+39%
Southland Conference	12	92%	$17,589	+56%
Southwestern Athletic Conference	11	79%	$17,669	+89%
United Athletic Conference	Football only · 4	Members' main conferences differ
Division I, other
America East	9	69%	$26,809	+47%
Atlantic 10 Conference	14	78%	$35,039	+36%
Atlantic Sun Conference	12	70%	$17,781	+61%
Big East Conference	11	76%	$37,777	+34%
Big South Conference	9	79%	$20,052	+55%
Big West Conference	11	46%	$28,156	+63%
Colonial Athletic Association	13	64%	$38,660	+22%
Horizon League	11	88%	$19,714	+88%
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference	13	72%	$36,297	+16%
Missouri Valley Conference	11	86%	$21,974	+41%
The Summit League	9	87%	$22,469	+61%
West Coast Conference	9	63%	$44,933	+22%
Western Athletic Conference	6	Too few members to summarize (under 8)
Division II
California Collegiate Athletic Association	11	95%	$19,512	+9%
Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference	12	—	$26,984	—
Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association	13	72%	$17,335	+55%
Conference Carolinas	15	76%	$23,027	−10%
East Coast Conference	8	82%	$25,188	+53%
Great American Conference	10	—	$18,897	—
Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference	11	84%	$19,134	+76%
Great Lakes Valley Conference	15	70%	$22,047	+58%
Great Midwest Athletic Conference	13	75%	$24,782	+52%
Great Northwest Athletic Conference	9	—	$25,727	—
Gulf South Conference	13	69%	$18,895	+27%
Lone Star Conference	18	93%	$17,470	+38%
Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association	13	—	$18,141	—
Mountain East Conference	11	94%	$20,616	+31%
Northeast 10 Conference	10	84%	$33,821	+41%
Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference	16	79%	$20,262	+25%
Pacific West Conference	13	77%	$32,194	+36%
Peach Belt Conference	11	79%	$16,967	+54%
Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference	13	91%	$22,429	+14%
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference	14	—	$22,604	—
South Atlantic Conference	12	79%	$22,881	+25%
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference	15	—	$13,647	—
Sunshine State Conference	11	73%	$37,326	+102%
Division III
Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference	8	92%	$26,780	+57%
American Rivers Conference	9	80%	$23,668	+13%
American Southwest Conference	4	Too few members to summarize (under 8)
Atlantic East Conference	7	Too few members to summarize (under 8)
Capital Athletic Conference	2	Too few members to summarize (under 8)
Centennial Conference	11	39%	$40,358	+51%
City University of New York Athletic Conference	9	58%	—	+43%
College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin	9	69%	$28,953	+58%
Collegiate Conference of the South	8	63%	$23,594	+55%
Colonial States Athletic Conference	2	Too few members to summarize (under 8)
Commonwealth Conference	1	Too few members to summarize (under 8)
Conference of New England	11	88%	$33,862	+13%
Eastern Collegiate Football Conference	Football only · 3	Members' main conferences differ
Empire Eight	10	72%	$24,988	+27%
Freedom Conference	1	Too few members to summarize (under 8)
Freedom Football Conference	Football only · 1	Members' main conferences differ
Great Northeast Athletic Conference	14	79%	$30,958	+30%
Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference	10	72%	$24,357	+32%
Landmark Conference	10	78%	$32,690	+24%
Little East Conference	9	87%	$24,047	+43%
Massachusetts State College Athletic Association	8	88%	$21,137	+28%
Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association	9	76%	$27,224	+38%
Middle Atlantic States Athletic Corporation	13	78%	$30,194	+47%
Midwest Conference	9	71%	$25,677	+39%
Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference	13	88%	$26,936	+4%
New England Football Conference	Football only · 1	Members' main conferences differ
New England Small College Athletic Conference	11	11%	$53,230	+68%
New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference	12	38%	$46,289	+48%
New Jersey Athletic Conference	9	76%	$25,567	+101%
North Atlantic Conference	8	90%	$21,569	—
North Coast Athletic Conference	9	57%	$31,668	+26%
Northern Athletics Conference	14	83%	$27,168	+53%
Northwest Conference	10	78%	$35,159	+20%
Ohio Athletic Conference	9	79%	$24,616	+23%
Old Dominion Athletic Conference	14	76%	$25,609	+39%
Presidents' Athletic Conference	12	72%	$24,672	+18%
Skyline Conference	11	72%	$29,342	+31%
Southern Athletic Association	7	Too few members to summarize (under 8)
Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference	12	41%	$51,275	+6%
Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference	13	56%	$26,138	+123%
St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference	9	86%	$21,178	−2%
State University of New York Athletic Conference	10	75%	$19,501	+29%
United East Conference	10	88%	$26,102	+91%
University Athletic Association	8	12%	$58,148	+65%
Upper Midwest Athletic Conference	6	Too few members to summarize (under 8)
Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association	10	59%	$40,830	+26%
USA South Athletic Conference	11	76%	$22,683	−2%
Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference	9	87%	$20,492	+62%
NAIA
American Midwest Conference	10	—	$21,702	—
Appalachian Athletic Conference	14	69%	$22,535	—
California Pacific Conference	6	Too few members to summarize (under 8)
Cascade Collegiate Conference	11	88%	$24,931	+35%
Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference	13	73%	$22,670	+20%
Continental Athletic Conference	9	—	$21,313	—
Crossroads League	10	84%	$23,091	+50%
Frontier Conference	10	79%	$20,197	—
Golden State Athletic Conference	6	Too few members to summarize (under 8)
Great Plains Athletic Conference	12	72%	$24,719	+36%
HBCU Athletic Conference	14	—	$15,381	—
Heart of America Athletic Conference	15	79%	$25,265	+28%
Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference	14	72%	$25,725	+54%
Mid-South Conference	7	Too few members to summarize (under 8)
Mid-States Football Association	Football only · 13	Members' main conferences differ
North Star Athletic Association	1	Too few members to summarize (under 8)
Red River Athletic Conference	12	—	$14,851	—
River States	9	77%	—	+23%
Sooner Athletic Conference	12	73%	$21,084	—
Southern States Athletic Conference	9	82%	$22,664	—
The Sun Conference	9	69%	$25,781	+72%
Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference	11	69%	—	+5%

No conference. Independents and catch-all codes aren't leagues, so they're left out of the medians: Division I Independents (1), Division II Independents (2), Division III Independents (4), Eastern College Athletic Conference (1), Independent Mid-South Region (1), Independent Midwest Region (1), Independent Northeast Region (1), Independent Southeast Region (2), Other (4).

Realignment in 2025–26

University of Delaware: Colonial Athletic Association → Conference USA
Missouri State University-Springfield: Missouri Valley Conference → Conference USA
Sacred Heart University: Northeast Conference → Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
University of Massachusetts-Amherst: Atlantic 10 Conference → Mid-American Conference
University of New Haven: Northeast 10 Conference → Northeast Conference
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley: Western Athletic Conference → Southland Conference
University of West Georgia: Gulf South Conference → Atlantic Sun Conference
Ferrum College: Old Dominion Athletic Conference → Conference Carolinas
The University of Texas at Dallas: American Southwest Conference → Lone Star Conference
University of Jamestown: North Star Athletic Association → Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference
Middle Georgia State University: Southern States Athletic Conference → Peach Belt Conference
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Daytona Beach: Sun Conference → Sunshine State Conference
Johnson & Wales University-Providence: Great Northeast Athletic Conference → Conference of New England
Berea College: Collegiate Conference of the South → Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference
Hiram College: North Coast Athletic Conference → Presidents' Athletic Conference
LeTourneau University: American Southwest Conference → Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference
Grand Canyon University: Western Athletic Conference → Mountain West Conference
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Prescott: California Pacific Conference → Golden State Athletic Conference
Mount Mary University: Other → Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference
Viterbo University: North Star Athletic Association → Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference
Missouri Baptist University: American Midwest Conference → Heart of America Athletic Conference
William Woods University: American Midwest Conference → Heart of America Athletic Conference
Huston-Tillotson University: Red River Athletic Conference → HBCU Athletic Conference
Dickinson State University: North Star Athletic Association → Frontier Conference
Mayville State University: North Star Athletic Association → Frontier Conference
Valley City State University: North Star Athletic Association → Frontier Conference
Dakota State University: North Star Athletic Association → Frontier Conference
Trinity University: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference → Southern Athletic Association
Kentucky Christian University: Appalachian Athletic Conference → River States
Saint Elizabeth University: United East Conference → Atlantic East Conference
Alice Lloyd College: River States → Continental Athletic Conference
Asbury University: Other → Collegiate Conference of the South

Conference moves per year

25–54 a year since 2015–16, the most in 2024–25. Football-only moves aren't counted.

How this was measured

Members. Each college's main as it reports it to the federal survey today; a college playing football elsewhere counts under its main conference. Medians are over unless a chart says otherwise.
Medians, not rankings. A conference needs 8 members on the site for a median, and a year's median needs 80% of members reporting. Football-only conferences are listed without medians.
Moves. A change in a college's reported conference from one year to the next; a change undone within two years is treated as a reporting slip.
The universe. The site's four-year colleges, not every member of each conference. The numbers show how members compare and changed, not why.

Sources:IPEDS Institutional Characteristics survey (athletics, programs, services, religious affiliation), 2014–15 to 2025–26;IPEDS Institutional Characteristics survey (admissions section), Fall 2013 to Fall 2013;IPEDS Admissions survey, Fall 2014 to Fall 2024;IPEDS Institutional Characteristics survey, 2013–14 to 2023–24;IPEDS Student Financial Aid survey, 2013–14 to 2023–24;College Scorecard (enrollment), Fall 2013 to Fall 2024;inflation: BLS CPI-U, school-year averagesAbout the data(built 2026-10-12; CPI retrieved 2026-10-12)