FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Fairfield University has accepted an invitation to join the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) as a full member of the conference beginning on July 1, 2027. The Stags will become the 14th full-membership institution in the CAA with all 19 of Fairfield's NCAA Division I athletic programs set to compete under the CAA banner.
 
"Fairfield University proudly accepts this opportunity to join the Coastal Athletic Association. Thank you to Commissioner Joe D'Antonio, the CAA Presidents, and Athletics Directors, for their confidence in the value of our profile to their membership," said Vice President for Athletics Paul Schlickmann. "This decision is indicative of the upward trajectory of Fairfield University as an elite academic institution of national prominence and reflects our continued aspirations to achieve comprehensive competitive excellence in the modern Division I landscape. We are excited to write the next chapter in our University and Athletics history and look forward to being an optimal partner and steward of the CAA brand."
 
"It's an exciting day for the CAA as we welcome Fairfield University as the 14th member of the conference," CAA Commissioner Joe D'Antonio said. "Athletically, Fairfield's sports sponsorship fits perfectly with what is offered by the CAA and the institution has certainly shown its commitment to being successful in basketball and its other Olympic sports. Fairfield University is an outstanding academic institution and adds to the list of the prestigious CAA membership."
 
Fairfield Athletics has won the MAAC Commissioner's Cup in each of the last three academic years as well as the last five MAAC Commissioner's Cups for Women's Sports. The Stags have had six programs earn national rankings – Baseball, Women's Basketball, Field Hockey, Men's Lacrosse, Women's Lacrosse, and Women's Soccer – since 2021. Over the last five years, Fairfield has garnered 23 conference tournament championships, 25 regular season championships, and 23 NCAA postseason berths, including the first-ever at-large bids in program and MAAC history in Baseball and Women's Lacrosse.
 
"Fairfield University and Stags Athletics take great pride in our 42-year history as a founding member of the MAAC and as a charter member of the Metro Conference," noted Schlickmann. "We are grateful to Commissioner Travis Tellitocci for his exceptional leadership and to his staff for their tireless commitment to providing a first-class experience to our student-athletes. We will always value and appreciate the lifelong relationships forged with countless conference colleagues and look forward to the competition ahead in the 2026-27 season."
 
Fairfield University is the fifth most selective Catholic university in the nation with an admit rate of 21% for the incoming Class of 2030 – selected out of the largest applicant pool in university history – which boasts an average weighted GPA of 3.9 and middle 50% SAT range of 1320-142. Fairfield is tied for #139 in the National Universities category in the U.S. News & World Report's best College Rankings, slotting among the top 75 private national universities.
 
All 13 current CAA member institutions join Fairfield in the National Universities category in U.S. News & World Report.
 
"As Fairfield continues to rise as a Jesuit Catholic university of national prominence, we are thrilled to be joining the CAA at a time when our applications and enrollment have grown exceptionally in all areas of the country, especially along the Eastern seaboard, and student outcomes are at an all-time high," said Mark R. Nemec, PhD, president of Fairfield University. "We are grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the CAA both academically and competitively and look forward to advancing through a spirit of continuing innovation."
 
The move to CAA will represent the first time in Fairfield Athletics history that every NCAA-sponsored varsity programs will compete under the same conference banner. The Stags will bring 17 varsity programs to the CAA from the Metro Conference. Fairfield Men's Lacrosse has been an associate member of the CAA since 2015 and Field Hockey begins its first campaign in the CAA in 2026. Fairfield Men's Rowing – a varsity program not sponsored by the NCAA – will continue as a part of the Intercollegiate Rowing Association.
 
Fairfield will remain a full member of the Metro Conference for the upcoming 2026-27 academic year. The Stags will retain the right to participate in the Metro postseason in all sports, including the ability to earn the conference's automatic berth to the NCAA postseason. Fairfield cannot host any Metro Conference postseason competition in 2026-27.
 
Fairfield University is a modern, Jesuit Catholic University, rooted in one of the world's oldest intellectual and spiritual traditions. More than 6,000 undergraduate and graduate students from 44 states, including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and 50 countries, are enrolled in the University's five schools. In the spirit of rigorous and sympathetic inquiry into all dimensions of human experience, Fairfield welcomes students from diverse backgrounds to share ideas and engage in open conversations. The University is located in the heart of a region where the future takes shape, on a stunning campus on the Connecticut coast just an hour from New York City.
 
The CAA encompasses many of the nation's largest metropolitan areas with a geographic footprint that stretches from Boston to Charleston, S.C. The conference has produced 18 national team champions in five different sports, 33 individual national champions, 15 national players of the year, 15 national coaches of the year and 13 Honda Award winners. Just as impressive, however, are the honors accumulated away from competition, which include five Rhodes Scholars and 25 NCAA post-graduate scholars. In 2025-26, more than 3,800 of the league's student-athletes received the Commissioner's Academic Award after posting at least a 3.0 grade point average while lettering in a varsity sport.