Its current 13 full members are located in five Northeastern states: Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York.

[1] In 2012–13, the MAAC became eligible for its 15th NCAA championship automatic bid when women's rowing fulfilled the qualifying requirements.

[3] Also in 2013, the MAAC announced that it would add field hockey with league play set to begin in the 2013–14 academic year.

The MAAC field hockey league was effectively taken over by the Northeast Conference (NEC), which reinstated the sport the following year.

[6] The MAAC responded by entering into negotiations with Mount St. Mary's University, a full but non-football NEC member.

[7] The last of these developments came shortly after the MAAC's greatest success in men's basketball, when Saint Peter's became the first 15-seed ever to reach an NCAA regional final, losing there to eventual national runner-up No.

[10] In October 2023, the MAAC announced that Merrimack College and Sacred Heart University would join the conference for the 2024-25 season.

In the summer of 2002, the Marist men's varsity eight boat advanced to the semifinals of the Temple Challenge Cup at the Henley Royal Regatta.

[1] During the 2022 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, the Saint Peter's Peacocks became the first 15 seed to reach the Elite Eight.

[1] Notable MAAC student athletes include Mary Beth Riley, a 1991 graduate of Canisius, who was the first recipient of the NCAA Woman of the Year Award and Erin Whalen, a member of the Iona women's rowing team who in the fall of 1998 was awarded one of the nation's 32 Rhodes Scholarships for academic achievement and civic leadership.

In the 2012 NCAAs, the Gaels unexpectedly relinquished a 25-point, first-half lead to the BYU Cougars, falling 78–72 in Dayton, Ohio.

At its peak in 1997, it consisted of 10 teams: Some of the notable sport figures who played collegiately and/or graduated from a MAAC school, include: