About
St. Michael's College
SMC has grown and evolved for 100-plus years, passing many milestones and forging traditions along the way.
St. Michael’s College is a Catholic Institution of learning administered by the Religious of the Virgin Mary (RVM) Sisters offering four levels of education: elementary, secondary, tertiary and graduate school. She is distinguished as the oldest Catholic institution in the provinces of Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte, and the only catholic school with Higher Education in the city of Iligan serving clientele with diverse cultural and religious backgrounds. She is committed to provide transformative education to the people of Iligan City and the surrounding areas of the two aforementioned provinces.
SMC's history timeline
The beginnings of St. Michael’s College were closely linked to the Jesuit Fathers who took over the work of Christianization in the area from the Augustinian Recollects in 1639. In their desire to strengthen their work of evangelization and further uplift the spiritual and intellectual faculties of the inhabitants of their mission area, Fr. Felix Cordova, S.J. assisted by Fr. Tomas Andueza, S.J. and another Brother of the same order established a catechetical center in June, 1914.
The school was formally established as Escuela de San Miguel in honor of Iligan’s patron saint, Saint Michael the Archangel. The RVM sisters were invited to teach at the Escuela with Mo. Ma. Micaela Cuenca, RVM as the first superior and principal.
Escuela de San Miguel offered complete elementary education.
First year high school classes were opened and the Escuela was renamed St. Michael’s Academy (SMA)
Classes were interrupted due World War II.
After the war, classes resumed and complete secondary education was offered.
SMA turned out its first graduates in the secondary level.
First college commencement exercise was held. Degrees offered included Liberal Arts, Education and Commerce.
The school attained full college status and the name was changed to St. Michael’s College (SMC).
Within this span of time, additional college programs such as Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering and Junior Secretarial Course were opened. The Graduate School was given Government recognition. The Kindergarten School also started.
Three academic programs in the College Department namely: Education, Liberal Arts and Commerce applied for PAASCU accreditation. The three programs in the College Department underwent the first formal survey visit of the PAASCU Team. Given the qualifying marks, the programs of Education, Liberal Arts and Commerce were granted Level I accredited status. This year, the Mother Foundress Building in the main campus was also constructed. In this building, the Guidance Center, nursing skills and science laboratories are
The three departments were granted re-accreditation status after a formal PAASCU survey visit. The College was given a three-year Level accredited status, while the Grade School and High School were granted five-year Level II accredited status. During this school year, new courses and major fields were opened such as: Associate in Computer Engineering ladderized to BS Computer Engineering, BSC Computer Science, BS Commerce major in Information Management and BS Education major in Computer Education.
Massive renovation, face lifting of the buildings in the main campus, improvement of facilities and acquisition of modern instructional tools were undertaken. Major offices were transferred to new locations. Additional computer laboratories were completed. The chapel in its present location became functional together with the library and audio-visual room.
The school’s physical plant continued to be refurbished. Renovation was done in the auditorium, the former home economics laboratory and music room (now used as classrooms.). The new air-conditioned library, canteen and students’ lounge became functional. The newly-constructed St. Joseph’s Gymnasium at the San Miguel campus was inaugurated and many more.
As she moves on with the changing times, SMC once again embarks on a new journey for greater heights