The Patriot League is a college athletic conference comprising private institutions and two United States service academies of higher education based in the Northeast United States. Outside of the Ivy League, it is the most selective group of higher education institutions in Division I and has the second highest student-athlete graduation rate following the Ivy League.
The Patriot League consists of eight core members: American University, United States Military Academy (Army), Bucknell University, Colgate University, College of the Holy Cross, Lafayette College, Lehigh University, and the United States Naval Academy (Navy).
All eight core members participate in the NCAA's Division I for all sports. Since not all Patriot League schools sponsor every available NCAA sport, such as ice hockey, several schools are affiliated with other collegiate conferences. Additionally, the Patriot League has a unique arrangement for football. Army and Navy are Independents in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), while Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, and Lehigh are members of the Patriot League’s Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) conference. American does not sponsor football.
There are three private institutions that are only Patriot League members for specific sports and are referred to as ‘Patriot League associate members.’ Fordham University and Georgetown University are associate members in football, while MIT is an associate member in women’s rowing.
Boston University and Loyola University Maryland will join the league as core members for the 2013-14 academic year. Neither school sponsors football.
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—Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892)