The following is a list of United States colleges and universities that are either in the process of reclassifying their athletic programs to NCAA Division I, or have announced future plans to do the same. [1]
These schools have begun the formal Division I reclassification process. [2] [3] [4] [5] On January 16, 2025, the NCAA announced that it was lessening the reclassification period for schools, by one year, with schools already in the process of reclassifying to Division I being given the option to use either the new, shorter period or the original, longer period they initially agreed to. The new reclassification period will be three years instead of the previous four for schools transitioning from Division II and four years instead of the previous five for schools transitioning from Division III. [6]
Le Moyne [7] and West Georgia [8] have announced that they will seek to reclassify under the new three-year transition process. Mercyhurst is also potentially eligible for the three-year transition period. New Haven entered the transition process after the three-year period was instituted.
| Institution name | Teams | Former classification | Current conferences | Transition | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full | Common | Division | Conference | Primary | Others | Start [a] | End [b] | |
| Le Moyne College | Le Moyne | Dolphins | II | Northeast-10 Conference | Northeast Conference | 2023–24 | 2027–28 [c] | |
| Mercyhurst University | Mercyhurst | Lakers | Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference | Northeast Conference | Atlantic Hockey America | 2024–25 | 2028–29 [d] | |
| University of West Georgia | West Georgia | Wolves | Gulf South Conference | Atlantic Sun Conference | United Athletic Conference | 2024–25 | 2028–29 [e] | |
| University of New Haven | New Haven | Chargers | Northeast-10 Conference | Northeast Conference | 2025–26 | 2028-29 | ||