Maris Stella College, Vijayawada

Campus Location: Vijayawada

Located in Founded in 1962 at Vijayawada, Maris Stella College, a Catholic Christian Minority Institution for Higher Education, has been a first-rate college, which has focused on the education of women and is the first Women’s college in the District. It was started by the same management of Stella Maris College, Chennai, namely the Society of Franciscan Sisters of Mary. The college aims at an integrated and personalized formation of young women. It strives to produce intellectually competent, morally upright, socially committed and spiritually inspired women imbued with the values of Christian humanism in the service of India today and tomorrow., From the outset Maris Stella was a first grade college offering courses in Humanities and Sciences both in Pre-University and Degree level – with Economics, History, Political Science, English, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Botany and Zoology. Telugu, Hindi and French were offered as second languages. The Students Union was inaugurated and cultural associations were opened with a view to develop initiative, creativity and a spirit of co-operation among students. Within three months social service league came into existence.In 1972 Department of Social Work and Commerce courses were started at Degree Level. From early 1970s with the introduction of National Service Scheme on the one hand and Social Work on the other hand became the outreach programmes of the college., Two new courses in Science were started in 1990. B.Sc. Computer Science and B.Sc. Electronics with Mathematics and Physics as common subjects – provided greater opportunities to students to study more relevant subjects. In the year 1999 BCA was started. Maris Stella launched two Post-graduate courses – M.A.Economics and M.A. English from 1992 onwards and two more courses - M.Sc.Mathematics, and M.Com were added to the P.G. department in the year 2003. A course in Business Management (MBA) is started during the academic year 2004. The course can be of benefit to the considerable number of women entrepreneurs in the area to hone their skills to compete in a global market., Right from the start, Maris Stella was recognized by University Grants Commission and received U.G.C.s assistance for various schemes. In 1995 Maris Stella was given U.G.C. financial assistance to start two vocational subjects – Tourism and Travel Management in B.A. and Tax Procedures and Practices in B.Com., The gradual progress in a number of courses also increased the strength of the college and necessitated the growth of infrastructural facilities in the college campus. Today the college which began with a student strength of 212 in 1962 has grown in to a beautiful large tree and is well established with 18 departments and four multistoried buildings with sufficient class rooms, laboratories, library facility, a separate administrative block, open air stage, auditorium, branch of The Canara Bank, canteen and hostel building together with large dining hall and recreation hall with a capacity to accommodate 400 resident students. The college has beautiful gardens, spacious sports grounds and sports facilities., The college offers the perfect ambience for study- a campus dotted with lush lawns, fragrant flowers, benches under shady trees, well-spaced buildings, spotless concrete roads and perfectly maintained playground. The restful presence of chirping birds, grazing cattle and the greenery around suggest a harmony with nature most conducive to intellectual activity.From the start to almost every year Maris Stella students have secured university ranks and won several gold medals in different subjects. Some of the old students of the college are working as IAS officers, scientists, doctors, engineers and even a pilot both in India and in different parts of the world. Maris Stella believe in giving an education that promotes an all-round development of students. Utmost attention is paid to extra-curricular activities like: Sports and games, National cadet corps, National Service Scheme, Cultural and Literary competitions participating in which the students of the college won trophies, championships and brought laurels to college., Special care is taken of students who are academically backward and financially constrained by arranging remedial coaching and by securing as many scholarships as possible. Value education for all students in general and Christian faith education for catholic students find a regular place in the time table. The thrust of the college is to make education more relevant and useful to students. Certificate courses are introduced and campus recruitments take place at regular intervals and students are given placements indifferent firms depending on the skill development and employability of the students., In 1999 the College completed the process of self study prescribed by U. G. C. and was accredited by the NAAC, Bangalore with four stars. It was one of the first colleges in Andhra Pradesh to seek accreditation from NAAC., Maris Stella has always been in line with the latest development in the field of education. In June 2003, the college was granted Autonomy by the U. G. C. enabling the college to develop its own curriculum and evaluation methods for the benefit of the students.The college was reaccredited at ‘A’ level in 2006 and was selected as a college with ‘Potential for Excellence in 2006’ by the U. G. C., New Delhi.. Use Google Maps for turn-by-turn driving directions to the campus.