St. Joseph's College for Women, Visakhapatnam was established in July, 1958 in response to the need for a Women's College in the City and managed by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Annecy.

The college was conferred with the Autonomous Status by UGC & Andhra University in 1987. The college, therefore, has the academic freedom to frame its own curriculum and conduct the examinations for Degree courses.

It is affiliated to Andhra University, Visakhapatnam was founded on 2nd, July 1958 and accredited by National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) with "A" Grade.

St. Joseph’s College, aim to offer holistic Education in Arts, Science and Commerce for the empowerment of women from all sections of society by promoting academic excellence, global employability and leadership with social conscience.

The college was set up to serve the interests of the young women of Visakhapatnam and continues to do so with no thought of commercial gain. The emphasis then was on the teaching of Domestic Science but the college has since then diversified and developed to cater to the changing needs and aspirations of the young women.

The college is now a grant-in-aid institution, with a campus area of 7.5 acres and student strength of 1250, offering four Intermediate courses, 12 Undergraduate courses in BA, B.Com and B.Sc and four Postgraduate courses.  The UGC, recognising the outstanding quality of education and excellent academic record,  conferred Autonomy on the College in 1987.

The college is a member of the All India Association of Christian Higher Education as also the Xavier Board and utilizes the facilities of these agencies for training the faculty. The Department of French has linkages with the educational wing of the French Embassy, New Delhi and Alliance Francaise, Hyderabad. The Department of Homescience has a Memorandum of Understanding with the Community Foods and Nutrition Unit, Ministry of Human Resource Development, for training the Homescience students in the techniques of Fruit and Vegetable Preservation.

Aims and Objectives of the College:
In order to achieve its mission, the college -

• Endeavors to make its own contribution to the society in the light of its Christian framework in which the principles of Justice, Freedom, Respect for Religious and Moral Values prevail
• Works for the Holistic Development of Women into individuals with Emotional Maturity, Humanitarian outlook, Spiritual and Ethical values, Social Consciousness and Responsiveness to adapt to a changing society
• Fosters an atmosphere of intellectual pursuit, in which young women from all parts of the world are trained to achieve Academic Excellence with Global Competencies
• Trains young women in a climate of trust and faith, to be Self- reliant and to assume outstanding leadership positions in the family and in organizations
• Identifies, locates and provides Human and Technological resources needed to maintain a level of excellence in all chosen areas of Endeavor without resorting to methods of Profiteering
• In carrying out its aims, the college as a Private aided minority institution reserves for itself its inherent and constitutionally recognized right to management and administration

Vision:

• St. Joseph’s College for Women should be a Centre of Academic Excellence which empowers young women to provide Intellectual Leadership and transform the world through courage of conviction, optimism and hope

Mission:

• St. Joseph’s College for Women, affirming its faith in God and love for humanity seeks to impart Holistic education to Young Women while developing global competencies of leadership and make them socially responsive members in a changing technologically driven world

Some of the distinctive features of the college are:

• The college having completed twenty five years of autonomy, has the credit of being one of the first seven colleges in Andhra University area to be granted Autonomy in 1987
• The language departments emphasis on Functional courses to develop the communication skills of the students was the first of its kind in coastal Andhra Pradesh
• Performance of the students in Competitive examinations and feed-back from students progressing to higher education reveals that the curriculum developed is optimal in all aspects
• The English Department's programme of streaming for General English and planning teaching methodology to suit different entry levels of language proficiency was the first of its kind in Andhra University area and the state
• Women's Studies' as a subject of study to develop the self-confidence of women students was introduced by the college for the first time in Andhra Pradesh, which is now offered as Gender Studies
• Participation in NCC/NSS/Sports is a compulsory component of the curriculum
• Faculty rejuvenation through participating, presenting and publishing of Research papers in International, National and Regional Academic forums has had the Multiplier Effect of Senior Faculty being invited as Resource Persons for National and Regional academic events
• Research has become a priority area since the last five years with major thrust on Research projects with UGC, DST, CRY, World Bank and others, while Faculty Individual Research has stepped up as also Faculty Research publications and Students research project.
• Being an institution committed to the cause of the benefit of the society and community around, the College has been involved in diverse areas of Consultancy and Extension from academic expertise to social advocacy, thus soliciting goodwill from the public
• Dr. P.K.J, Reader and Head of the Department of Hindi has been recognised for her outstanding contribution to academic, research and consultancy in the society by ICCR and the Ministry of External Affairs through awarding her the ICCR Chair's Visiting Professor Assignment in Sofia University, Sofia, Bulgaria from 2012 - 2014, an honour rarely given to College teachers from a non Hindi speaking State
• Ms. Shampa Singh (BSc BBC, 2012) Junior Research Scholar (JRS) in Tata Institute of Research (TIFR) Mumbai pursuing MSc in Biology - a brilliant student in academics, research and extra murals