The Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the NAIA

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics is an athletic association that organizes college and university-level athletic programs. Membership in the NAIA consists of smaller colleges and universities across the United States. The NAIA allows colleges and universities outside the USA...

. Member institutions are located in Iowa

Iowa

Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...

, Kansas

Kansas

Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

, Missouri

Missouri

Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

, and Nebraska

Nebraska

Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

The HAAC's earliest ancestor was the Missouri College Athletic Union, which was formed in 1924 when the Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association (now the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association

Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association

The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association is a college athletic conference which operates in the states of Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and effective in 2012 in Oklahoma in the Midwestern United States. The conference was formerly known as the Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic...

) split in two. The state teachers' colleges stayed in the MIAA, while the private schools created the new conference. It was reorganized as the HAAC in 1971 when it began admitting schools outside Missouri. However, the HAAC does not presently claim the Athletic Union's history as its own.

Sports

The HAAC sponsors intercollegiate competition in men's baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

, men's and women's basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

, men's and women's cross country

Cross country running

Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...

, men's football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

, men's and women's golf

Golf

Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's tennis

Tennis

Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

, men's and women's indoor AND outdoor track and field

Track and field

Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...

 and women's volleyball

Volleyball

Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...

.

Two HAAC Schools also participate in wrestling

Wrestling

Wrestling is a form of grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position...

, while others participate in men's and women's tennis

Tennis

Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

 and spirit squad.

Current members

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Year Joined
Avila University Avila University Avila University is a private university in Kansas City, Missouri sponsored by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. It offers Bachelor's degrees in thirty-six majors and Master's degrees: Master of Science in Counseling Psychology, Master of Science in Counseling Psychology/Art Therapy, Master...	Kansas City, MO	1916	Private Private university Private universities are universities not operated by governments, although many receive public subsidies, especially in the form of tax breaks and public student loans and grants. Depending on their location, private universities may be subject to government regulation. Private universities are... /Catholic Catholic The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...	1,939	Eagles	2000
Baker University Baker University Baker University is a private, residential university located in Baldwin City, Kansas, United States. Founded in 1858, it is the oldest university in Kansas and is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Baker University is made up of four schools...	Baldwin City, KS	1858	Private/Methodist United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination which is both mainline Protestant and evangelical. Founded in 1968 by the union of The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church, the UMC traces its roots back to the revival movement of John and Charles Wesley...	4,112	Wildcats	1971
Benedictine College Benedictine College Benedictine College is a co-educational university in Atchison, Kansas, founded in 1971 by the merger of St. Benedict's College for men and Mount St. Scholastica College for women. It is a Roman Catholic, Benedictine, liberal arts, and residential college located on bluffs overlooking the...	Atchison, KS	1858	Private/Catholic	2,012	Ravens	1991
Central Methodist University Central Methodist University Central Methodist University is a private, coeducational, liberal arts university located in Fayette, Missouri. CMU is an accredited four year institution of higher education and offers masters, bachelors, and associates degrees...	Fayette, MO	1854	Private/Methodist	4,500	Eagles Central Methodist Eagles The Central Methodist Eagles are the athletic teams of Central Methodist University, located in Fayette, Missouri. CMU is currently a Division I NAIA school in the Heart of America Conference.-Sports:Men's sports*Baseball*Basketball*Cheerleading...	1971*
Culver-Stockton College Culver-Stockton College Culver-Stockton College is a private, residential, four-year, liberal arts college located in Canton, Missouri. Culver-Stockton College offers a liberal arts education with practical learning experiences. The campus is located on on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River. Culver-Stockton...	Canton, MO	1853	Private/Disciples of Christ Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) The Christian Church is a Mainline Protestant denomination in North America. It is often referred to as The Christian Church, The Disciples of Christ, or more simply as The Disciples...	810	Wildcats	1980
Evangel University Evangel University Evangel University is the national university of arts, sciences and professions in Springfield, Missouri. Evangel College was renamed Evangel University on June 8, 1998. The campus sits on that were originally part of . The first President of Evangel was Klaude Kendrick who served from 1955-1958....	Springfield, MO	1955	Private/Assemblies of God	1,911	Crusaders	1987
Graceland University Graceland University Graceland is not ranked by U.S. News & World Report, being deemed a Tier 3 institution. It is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission as a member of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.-Housing System:...	Lamoni, IA	1895	Private/non-sectarian	2,444	Yellowjackets	1971
MidAmerica Nazarene University MidAmerica Nazarene University MidAmerica Nazarene University is a Christian liberal arts college in Olathe, Kansas. It was established in 1966 by the Church of the Nazarene.-History:Mid-America Nazarene College was founded in 1966...	Olathe, KS	1966	Private/Nazarene Church of the Nazarene The Church of the Nazarene is an evangelical Christian denomination that emerged from the 19th century Holiness movement in North America with its members colloquially referred to as Nazarenes. It is the largest Wesleyan-holiness denomination in the world. At the end of 2010, the Church of the...	1,743	Pioneers	1980
Missouri Valley College Missouri Valley College Missouri Valley College is a private, four-year liberal arts college affiliated with the Presbyterian Church . The campus is in Marshall, Missouri.The college was founded in 1889 and supports 27 academic majors and an enrollment close to 1,800 students...	Marshall, MO	1889	Private/Presbyterian Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) The Presbyterian Church , or PC, is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States. Part of the Reformed tradition, it is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the U.S...	1,727	Vikings	1971
Peru State College Peru State College Peru State College is a public four-year institution located in the rural city of Peru, Nebraska, in the Midwest region of the United States. Founded by members of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1865, making it the first and oldest institution in Nebraska, it would undergo several name changes...	Peru, Nebraska Peru, Nebraska Peru is a city in Nemaha County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 569 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Peru is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land....	1865	Public Public university A public university is a university that is predominantly funded by public means through a national or subnational government, as opposed to private universities. A national university may or may not be considered a public university, depending on regions...	2,124	Bobcats	2011

• Central Methodist withdrew the conference in 1986, but re-joined in 1991.

Former members

Institution	Type	Years	New Conference	Classification
College of Emporia College of Emporia The College of Emporia was established in 1882 in Emporia, Kansas, and was associated with the Presbyterian church. The college officially closed in 1974. The college campus was purchased by The Way International for $694,000 and was operated as the Way College of Emporia from 1975 until 1989...	Charter Member	1971–1974	ceased operations in 1974	N/A
Lindenwood University Lindenwood University Lindenwood University, often referred to as Lindenwood or LU, is a private, coeducational, liberal arts university located in Saint Charles, Missouri, United States...	Full Member	1996–2011	Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association	NCAA Division II
Ottawa University Ottawa University Ottawa University is a private, non-profit, faith-based liberal arts college located in Ottawa, Kansas. It was founded in 1865 and is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA...	Charter Member	1971–1981	Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference The Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NAIA. It is commonly called "The Kansas Conference", and as the name implies, all members are located in Kansas...	NAIA Division II National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics is an athletic association that organizes college and university-level athletic programs. Membership in the NAIA consists of smaller colleges and universities across the United States. The NAIA allows colleges and universities outside the USA...
Tarkio College	Charter Member	1971–1992	ceased operations in 1992	N/A
William Jewell College William Jewell College William Jewell College is a private, four-year liberal arts college of 1,100 undergraduate students located in Liberty, Missouri, U.S. It was founded in 1849 by members of the Missouri Baptist Convention and other civic leaders, including Robert S. James, a Baptist minister and father of the...	Charter Member	1971–2011	Great Lakes Valley Conference Great Lakes Valley Conference The Great Lakes Valley Conference is an intercollegiate athletic conference which competes at the NCAA's Division II level. Member institutions are located in the states of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, and Wisconsin....	NCAA Division II