Stella Maris College, Chennai
Stella Maris College is a Catholic institution of higher education for women in Chennai, India. It is an autonomous college affiliated to the University of Madras and is partly residential. The college, which is under the direction of the Society of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, is a minority institution that provides university education in a Christian atmosphere for deserving students, especially those belonging to the Catholic community.IntroductionBeginning in a small one-storey building on August 15, 1947, with an enrolment of 32 students, the college has at present over 3000 students housed in large buildings on the beautiful campus of "The Cloisters", Cathedral Road, Chennai.The college became autonomous in 1987 and has 13 undergraduate and 10 postgraduate programmes. Research programmes such as M.Phil. and Ph.D. and also postgraduate diploma courses are part of the academic curriculum.With the introduction of the credit based system since 1997-98 the college is offering many new academic programmes encouraging interdisciplinary associations.HistoryThe college is under the management of the Institute of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary. It was founded on August 15, 1947 with an enrolment of 32 students in the intermediate class. Stella Maris was granted permanent recognition in 1951. The college has the unique credit of starting the Bachelor's degree in Western Music and History of Fine Arts as well as the Master's degree in Social Work of the University of Madras. The college has also the distinction of being the first to introduce the M.A. degree course in Indian Music, and the first women's college in Madras to offer M.A. English, Economics and Fine Arts. In 1960 the college moved from Santhome to a more spacious campus, "The Cloisters," on Cathedral Road, Chennai. The following few decades saw tremendous growth and development in the college with several firsts and distinctions. The college was one of the few chosen to start the pilot project of the National Service Scheme in 1968. A spacious library was erected on the occasion of the Silver Jubilee of the college in 1972 and occupies a place of pride on the campus as well as in Chennai.
