The Northern Illinois-Iowa Conference (NIIC) was a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division III level. Member schools transitioned from the NAIA ranks during the early 1980s. The conference was formed in 1969. Member institutions were located in the Midwestern United States in the states of Illinois and Iowa. After the 2005–06 academic year, the NIIC merged with the Lake Michigan Conference to form a new league called the Northern Athletics Conference (now known as the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference).[1]