Atlantic Hockey has voted to increase their conference’s current scholarship limit from 14 to the NCAA maximum of 18, the conference announced Wednesday. This announcement was made following their annual meetings in Winthrop, Massachusetts.

During the offseason, the AHA has taken steps to improve their conference’s competitiveness nationally. Increasing the number of scholarships to the NCAA maximum will help the AHA become more competitive with the other five conferences.

This summer, a couple of AHA schools have taken significant steps to elevate their programs. In early July, Bentley University announced that they were building a new state-of-the-art multi-purpose arena that will seat 2000 fans for hockey. In August, American International College announced that they are moving into the Springfield MassMutal Center.

“This is another step forward for our league,” said Commissioner DeGregorio. “Increasing the scholarship limit to 18 incrementally will allow us to maintain our vision of not leaving any of our members behind while increasing our competitiveness nationally. Our teams have made great strides in recent years and this will continue that trend.”

“This is an exciting time to be a member of Atlantic Hockey,” said Robert Morris head coach Derek Schooley. “The increase in scholarships as well as the increased commitment to all aspects of our programs show that Atlantic Hockey is serious about NCAA Division I hockey. Our teams, our coaches, and our programs have been getting better every year. By increasing scholarships, our teams will continue the rise of Atlantic Hockey.”

Lou Spiotti Jr., Executive Director Intercollegiate Athletics at RIT and Chair of the Atlantic Hockey Executive Committee said, “Atlantic Hockey continues to advance in quality and overall competitiveness. This most recent initiative to bring the number of allowable athletic grants in aid up to the NCAA limit of 18 will put our collective membership in position to compete every year for the NCAA Championship against the benchmark leagues in the nation.

“I applaud my league partners for supporting this important step forward.”