In 1986, SWACC was created as a response to skyrocketing premiums and the decreasing availability of liability insurance for California community colleges. The original steering committee, meeting in early 1985, included representatives from community college districts and K-12 school districts throughout the state. This original committee later split into three separate committees, eventually to form SWACC, Nor Cal ReLiEF and So Cal ReLiEF.

SWACC's property and liability program was designed as an excess coverage program exclusively for community college districts. By forming a "Super Pool", SWACC self-insures member districts from the member's individually selected Self-Insured Retention (SIR) to $15,000,000 for liability and $500,250,000 for property. To the original steering committee, the concept of "pooling" was not new. More than 15 years ago, several concerned business officials met in San Francisco to discuss the current liability crisis, and the result was the first local joint powers authority for schools.

Still in 1985, joint powers authorities and individual community college districts were unable to purchase primary liability and property coverage at a reasonable cost. Recognizing California community colleges' needs and using their experience in joint powers authority organizations and management, Keenan & Associates assisted the committee of select community colleges in the formation of SWACC.

In a period of 18 years, SWACC has grown to almost twice its original size, and the enthusiasm for the program continues to increase as budgets tighten with each passing year.