The American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) has become a popular destination for hockey players to continue their playing careers, at a wider range of schools. Division I ACHA has continued to challenge NCAA Division III programs for talent out of junior and U18 levels across the US and Canada.
The below analysis is intended to give both families and players an overview of what schools offer ACHA programs, comprised of programs from the 2022-2023 season.
Programs By ACHA Level
Teams as of 2022-2023 season
ACHA Division I - 70
ACHA Division II - 184
ACHA Division III - 97
Past ACHA National Champions
ACHA Division I
ACHA Division I includes big name schools such as University of Alabama, University of Illinois and University of Oregon, as well as schools like Liberty University, and Adrian College, who have built top tier programs at all 3 ACHA levels, without having any NCAA hockey programs.
The state of Michigan has the most Division I programs with 12, followed by Pennsylvania (10) and New York (9). Due to the amount of NCAA Division III hockey within certain regions like New England, and Minnesota, some areas of the country have far less programs.
The tri-state area, consisting of New Jersey, PA and New York, account for over 30% of the ACHA Division I programs, with multiple New York ACHA programs having NCAA Division I or III teams as well (Oswego State, Niagara, RIT, Stony Brook). New Jersey’s newest program to the Division I level is The College of New Jersey, a program to watch at the Division I level after a decent first season, and a track record of success at the Division II level over the past 10 seasons.
Michigan Schools
The midwest has had the bulk of the national rankings from the past few seasons, with programs like Adrian College, Minot State, Ohio University, UNLV, Central Oklahoma, and University of Jamestown. Reviewing the 2023 final rankings, the WCHL was rated the toughest conference, with 8 of the 10 schools ranked in the top 25, and all 10 within the top 40.
Midwest / Southern Schools
West Coast Schools
ACHA Division II
ACHA Division II offers the most programs of any ACHA level with 184, spreading coast to coast. Rosters for Division II do include players with junior, and U18AAA experience, but also include players from high school and other levels. The competition at ACHA Division II continues to be extremely deep, and includes teams, like at the ACHA Division I level, that run their programs very similarly to NCAA Division III programs.
Most Programs By State
California - 17
Minnesota - 13
Massachusetts - 11
Pennsylvania - 10
Michigan - 10
New Jersey - 8
Illinois - 8
California Schools
East Coast Schools
The diversity in school size at the ACHA level, especially the Division II level, allows players to continue their hockey careers while meeting their educational and social requirements for college. Many Tri-State area schools are smaller schools in terms of undergraduate programs like Rider University and Seton Hall University, competing against medium and larger size schools like, West Chester University, Rutgers, UVA, Virginia Tech and others.
Midwest Schools
Southeast Schools
Some past national champions would be of some surprising schools, including NYU, Florida Gulf Coast, and University of Mary, not the forget the 2022-2023 champions, UMass Amherst.
Other Southwest / Western Schools
New England Schools
Minnesota Schools
Great Lakes Region Schools
ACHA Division III
The ACHA Division III footprint continues to grow, with a larger precense on the east coast and midwest states. Michigan leads all states with 16 programs alone, followed by Massachusetts (9), Pennsylvania (7) and Indiana/Colorado/Maine (6).
New England Schools
East Coast Schools
Great Lakes Region Schools
Midwest / Western Schools
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