In the year 1962, a group of prominent citizens of Vijayawada approached the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary (FMM) to express the need for a college for women in this region. It was in response to this invitation that Maris Stella College was founded on 16th July, 1962 to become the first college set up with the express mission of educating young women to be intellectually, morally, socially and spiritually sound, to be equipped to contribute positively to family, community and nation and to become torch-bearers of an equitable society.