NCAA independent lacrosse schools are four-year institutions in the United States that do not belong to a lacrosse-only conference or a primary all-sports conference that sponsors lacrosse. As of the 2016–17 academic year there are 22 men's and 9 women's lacrosse programs in Division I, Division II, and Division III that compete as independents.
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Men's
There are three independent teams in the 2017 season. One of them, NJIT, became a full member of the Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) in 2015. The ASUN has a formal relationship with the Southern Conference (SoCon) that allows ASUN members with men's lacrosse teams to join the SoCon men's lacrosse league. However, NJIT has yet to join SoCon men's lacrosse. The other two are new additions to the sport's Division I ranks, with Hampton having added the sport for the 2016 season and Cleveland State beginning play in 2017.
Women's
There are no independent Division I women's lacrosse teams in the 2017 season. Both schools that played the 2016 season as independents are now associate members of conferences that sponsor the sport. Delaware State joined ASUN women's lacrosse, and Johns Hopkins, whose men's lacrosse team has been a Big Ten Conference member since the 2015 season, moved its women's team into the Big Ten.
Men's
* Transitioning from NAIA to NCAA Division III.
Women's
* Transitioning from NAIA to NCAA Division III.