Patna Women's College

Patna Women’s College was founded in 1940 by Bishop B.J. Sullivan S.J., Bishop of Patna and Mother M. Josephine A.C. Superior General of the Apostolic Carmel. It was the first institution of higher learning opened to cater to the educational needs of women in Bihar. Bishop Sullivan, the founder, named it Patna Women’s College and presented it as a gift to the females of Bihar, thereby placing at their disposal an opportunity for higher education. It was Bishop Sullivan’s firm belief that the upliftment of Bihar lay in liberating its womenfolk by providing them with opportunities for higher education i.e., by empowering them. In the early years, the college and the hostel were housed in the Bishop’s own residence at Bankipore, which he vacated for this landmark. The college has come a long way from the time the pioneers envisioned and undertook the difficult task of establishing a women’s college at a time when only a few truly enlightened and far-sighted persons were prepared to support this infant project in a place where higher education for women was frowned upon, if not rejected outright.