It has 220 member institutions in NCAA Divisions I, II, and III, ranging in location from Maine to South Carolina and west to Missouri.

The ECAC was founded as the Central Office for Eastern Intercollegiate Athletics in 1938, largely through the efforts of James Lynah of Cornell University.

The Division I ECAC tournaments were discontinued after all participating schools joined conferences of their own during the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Since 1981, it has organized regional Division III-only men's basketball tournaments annually at the end of each regular season.

[6] In football, the ECAC organizes four NCAA Division III bowl games each year.