Saint Joseph Seminary College

Private · LA

School data & stats

TypePrivate

LocationLA · South

SettingRural

Undergrads93

Student:faculty6:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate43.5%

6-yr grad rate47.8%

Drop-out rate28.6%

Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition$28k

Out-of-state tuition$28k

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity40.9%

Gender diversity0%

International2.1%

IdentityRoman Catholic

Overview

Saint Joseph Seminary College sits on the grounds of Saint Joseph Abbey, a Benedictine monastery north of Covington, Louisiana, and exists specifically to form college-age men discerning the Catholic priesthood. Seminarians live in community with the Benedictine monks, following a schedule built around prayer, study, and monastic life alongside academic coursework in philosophy and the liberal arts. It draws seminarians sent by dioceses across the Gulf South rather than recruiting a general applicant pool the way a typical college does.

Academics

The curriculum centers on philosophy and the liberal arts as the standard pre-theology foundation before seminarians move on to graduate-level theological study at a major seminary. Class sizes are small, and the academic schedule is built around the monastery's daily prayer schedule rather than a conventional college calendar.

Campus & student life

Life on the grounds follows Benedictine monastic rhythm — communal prayer several times a day, set hours of silence, and shared refectory and chapel life with the monks themselves. This is not an optional extracurricular layer; it is the basic structure the academic program is built inside of.

Getting in

Admission runs through diocesan or religious-order sponsorship rather than a general application process — a student typically arrives already sponsored by a bishop or vocation director as part of formal discernment toward priesthood.

sjasc.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate—

Enrolled mid-50%—

Test policynot reported

Rec letters0

Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

Applying