The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., is a governing body of small athletics programs that are dedicated to character-driven intercollegiate athletics. Since 1937, the NAIA has administered programs dedicated to championships in balance with the overall college educational experience. Each year more than 83,000 NAIA student-athletes have the opportunity to play college sports, earn over $1.3 billion in financial aid, and compete for a chance to participate in 29 national championships.
NAIA History
The seed of the NAIA began in 1937 with the tipoff of a men’s basketball tournament in Kansas City that has become the longest-running event in college basketball. Out of the tournament grew the NAIA, an association that has been an innovative leader. The NAIA was the first collegiate athletics association to invite historically black institutions into membership and the first to sponsor both men’s and women’s national championships.
