National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) is an association of universities and colleges in the United States. Its member instituions tend to be smaller and of a lower class of competition than those of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
Until 2009 it had members in Canada.
From 1968 to 1984 it ran a program in ice hockey.
During the summer of 2015 a group of schools began working with the administrators of the NAIA to gain emerging sport status for the sport of men's ice hockey.  The NAIA requires a mininum of 15 teams to sponsor a sport at the varsity level to begin the process and 15 (the 15th started play with the 2016-17 season) schools that have teams playing in the American Collegiate Hockey Association are also members of the NAIA.  There are also two schools based in British Columbia that are members of the NAIA that sponsor men's ice hockey.  There is also a team that plays as an independent club team that is a member of the NAIA.
Link: NAIA national ice hockey championship
===Current NAIA schools fielding hockey teams ===
(as of start of the 2016-17 season)
Institution 	Location 	Enrollment	Nickname 	Current Hockey Affiliation
Aquinas College 	Grand Rapids, Michigan 	2,100 	Saints 	ACHA
University of British Columbia 	Vancouver, British Columbia	50,304 	Thunderbirds 	CIS
Carroll College 	Helena, Montana 	1,502 	Fighting Saints	ACHA
Davenport University 	Grand Rapids, Michigan 	11,733 	Panthers 	ACHA
Dordt College 	Sioux Center, Iowa 	1,300 	Defenders 	ACHA
Holy Cross College 	Notre Dame, Indiana 	500 	Saints 	ACHA
Indiana Institute of Technology 	Fort Wayne, Indiana 	3,500 	Warriors 	ACHA
University of Jamestown 	Jamestown, North Dakota 	967 	Jimmies 	ACHA (starting 2016)
Lawrence Technological University 	Southfield, Michigan 	4,000 	Blue Devils 	ACHA
Lindenwood University – Belleville	Belleville, Illinois 	2,600 	Lynx 	ACHA
Life University 	Marietta, Georgia 	2,800 	Running Eagles 	ACHA
University of Michigan–Dearborn 	Dearborn, Michigan 	8,635 	Wolverines 	ACHA
Midland University 	Fremont, Nebraska 	1300 	Warriors 	ACHA
Montana Tech 	Butte, Montana 	2,694 	Orediggers 	ACHA
Robert Morris University 	Chicago, Illinois 	7,000 	Eagles 	ACHA
Rochester College 	Rochester Hills, Michigan 	1,084 	Warriors 	ACHA
St. Ambrose University 	Davenport, Iowa 	3,607 	Fighting Bees 	Independent club
University of Victoria 	Victoria, British Columbia 	16,961 	Vikes 	BCIHL
Category:Defunct ice hockey leagues
Category:Ice hockey in the United States