St Aloysius College belongs to a network of educational institutions administered by the members of the Society of Jesus, a religious order which runs schools, colleges and universities in more than 105 countries in the world.

Established in 1880, St Aloysius College prides itself in its history of 138 years.  Despite its status as a minority institution, the college has imparted high quality education to all sections of society regardless of caste, color or creed.

The motto of the college, “Lucet et Ardet” which means “shine to enkindle” has inspired countless students to become men and women for and with others and thus bring light and joy into the lives of people.  It is for this reason that Jesuit education has become a touchstone for evolving new paradigms in higher education. 

In 1880, 9 Jesuits landed in Mangalore at the request made by Mangaloreans to establish an institution of quality higher education. The college celebrated its centenary celebrations in 1980 in a grand manner for which our former President of India, Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy was the chief guest and witness. In the year 2002, the college campus witnessed the arrival of our beloved former President, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam for the inauguration of the Information Technology Block.

As the college felt that it is ready for an assessment by external agencies like the NAAC, it subjected itself to the rigorous exercise of the first cycle of NAAC Accreditation in 2005. The college received a high score of 86.7%. The College has seen tremendous growth after it became autonomous in 2007. The college offers a variety of courses across disciplines both at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. 

The distinctive achievements of the college in recent years: 

• The college has been accredited by NAAC. In each of the three cycles of accreditation, the college attained one of the highest grades awarded by NAAC. In the third cycle of NAAC in 2015, the college was awarded “A” Grade with a CGPA of 3.62.
• The NIRF ranking 2018 awarded by the MHRD has ranked the college at 94 among Indian colleges which is an outstanding achievement.
• The College has been declared a “College with Potential for Excellence” by the University Grants Commission since 2009.
• The “Star College” status conferred by the DBT, Government of India has been upgraded to “Star Status” in 2016.
• The University Grants Commission has awarded “DDU Kaushal Kendra” to the college for offering B. Vocational programs in 2015.  Only a handful of institutions have been given this distinction.  
• Karnataka State Government, which had sanctioned “BTFS Finishing School” earlier, has now selected (2017) the college under the scheme of “BiSEP” [Biotechnology   Skill Enhancement Program].
• The prestigious weekly journal “The Week” in its survey for the last three consecutive years, has rated the college one among the best 25 science colleges in the country. In 2017 it has been ranked at 23.
• The College has uploaded the data of All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE)-2016-17, MHRD, Statistics Division, Government of India.
• The College has submitted its application online under the scheme of INSTITUTIONAL SWACHHTA RANKING, All India Survey on Higher Education, MHRD- Government of India. 

The College has 7 undergraduate programs. It provides Bachelors of Arts with 15 combinations, B.Sc with 16 combinations, B.Com, BBA/BBM with 8 batches & 4 batches respectively including embedded programs, and BCA with two batches, B. Voc with 3 courses and BSW. There are 21 postgraduate programs across disciplines along with research studies. Three more post graduate programs are proposed to be started from the academic year 2018-19.

The college has two research Centres for promoting research.  Two more research Centres have been sanctioned by the affiliating University. The encouragement given to research has enabled the staff members to publish research papers in UGC approved journals.

The large number of academic seminars organized, conferences attended by the teachers and the conference papers presented after the college became autonomous will go a long way to establish the attitudinal change among the teachers. The college publishes three research journals. Several Postgraduate Diploma, Diploma and short term certificate programs have been introduced.  

The College has more than 6,500 students at various levels. Our students have excelled not only in academics but also in cultural, sports & games and many other fields of performance. The college has all the wings of NCC and NSS units. In fact, our college is the only one college in the university area to have all the three full-fledged wings of NCC. Students have been offered facilities like sports, recreation, photocopying, health check-up, disabled friendly structures, drinking water and sanitation. There are separate student hostels in each of the centres for both men and lady students. 

The Vision and the Mission of the college lays thrust on social consciousness. Only a compassionate and empathetic person can be instrumental in the inclusive development of the society. In this direction, the social extension activities undertaken by the college deserve a special mention. The College has created an exclusive Centre for Social Concern (CSC), which regulates, facilitates and promotes social empowerment activities. Each undergraduate student has to fulfill social service activity as specified for 20 hours in each of the first two years. The program is titled “Sahaaya”. Postgraduate students have to spend a minimum one week in a remote village selected for this purpose under “Village Exposure” program actually staying with families accompanied by teachers.

Radio Sarang 107.8 FM, the Community Radio reaches out to the surrounding areas of Mangalore for 16 hours a day in five different local languages through several programs promoting and spreading awareness on local culture, language, health & hygiene, economic and social aspects of life. The community radio has bagged multiple National Awards for promoting local language and culture.

Konkani Institute, established in 1980, is another example of the efforts of the college to promote research in Konkani language, literature and culture. It also offers diploma and PG diploma in Konkani. The college is the first to offer Konkani as a second language at the under graduate level since 1992 in the state.

The world renowned paintings in the college chapel attract thousands of foreign and domestic tourists. The college museum with rare collections is an added attraction. The college has a vibrant Alumni base engaging itself continually in the projects and activities of the college. SACAA, the St Aloysius College Alumni Association has been responsible for bolstering the infrastructure, public image and liaising with the Alumni networks all over the world.

The college feels proud that some of the excellent talents in leadership, entrepreneurship and social service of national and international repute have been the products of this college. Sri K S Hegde, Former Speaker of the Lok Sabha; Sri George Fernandes, eminent political leader; Sri Justice Santhosh Hegde, Former Lokayukta; Sri K V Kamath, BRICS Bank Chairman; Dr K V Rao, International Physicist; Sri T M A Pai who has been instrumental in establishing the renowned Manipal University; Sri K. K. Venugopal, the present Attorney Generalof India; Sri Aravind Adiga, Man Booker prize winner; Sri Anant Agarwal, CEO of  edX; Dr K Ullas Karanth, leading Conservation Zoologist; K L Rahul, the cricketer, Prof. Raghurama G., Director, BITS, Pilani are a few personalities among many others who have made a mark in public life leading a life that is typically Aloysian.