The conference was founded in 1915 and it consists of twelve small private schools that are located in Southern California and organized into nine athletic programs.

A forerunner conference to the SCIAC was the Intercollegiate Football Association of Southern California, which existed in the 1890s.

It included Occidental, Caltech (then called Throop Polytechnic), USC, Chaffey College and Los Angeles High School.

Although all five original charter members are still affiliated with the SCIAC, only two, Occidental and Redlands, have had uninterrupted membership.

[2] At one time, most of the colleges were the southern California affiliates of various Christian sects such as the Quakers and the Presbyterians.