Originally named the Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association, the conference was established in 1912 with 14 members, two of which are still current members. Six members (Central Methodist, Central Wesleyan, Culver–Stockton, Missouri Valley, Missouri Wesleyan, Tarkio College, Westminster, and William Jewell) were later removed from the conference in 1924 when it decided to only include the public schools. A majority of the charter members that left in 1924 have shut down their operations, or merged with another school. Over the next century, nearly twenty schools have joined and left the conference, with a few affiliate members. Some of those schools have reclassified to NCAA Division I.