St. Josephs College, Pilathara was established in 2005 by the Diocese of Kannur with a vision to provide quality education to the aspirants of Northern Kerala. It was a region where the demand for higher education exceeded the enrollment capacity of existing Institutions and desired the establishment of new higher education institutions. This is the social context of the inception of St. Joseph’s college. It is situated on the NH 17 Highway in a ten-acre plot of land at the Pilathara Junction. The College started functioning with two courses, B.Com and BSW, in a humble, old building. Within two years, a new building was built to house the college.
Presently the College has 9 Under Graduate and 3 Postgraduate programmes, The undergraduate programmes are B.Com with computer application, B.Com Co-operation, Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA), Bachelor of Social work (BSW), Bachelor of Computer Application (BCA), B.A English Language and Literature, and B.Sc. Mathematics,B.Com Finance,B.Sc Psychology Postgraduate programmes are M.Com with Finance, Maters in Social Work (M.S.W) and M.A English Language and Literature. The college has a strength of 980 students, 54 teaching staff and 9 supporting staff.
Sports: St. Joseph’s college strives to mark its presence has made in the field of sports. It is memorable that Mr. Sahal Abdul Samad, the leading National player of the Indian Foot ball team began his career in the game in St. Joseph's College. Teams of the College has been champions and finalists in University Zonal Football and Cricket championships in the bygone years. Every year college hosts university sports championships. The College conducts Sports meet every year. Teachers also become part of it to encourage students.
FineArts: St. Joseph’s College always is in the forefront of promoting Fine. The College Union supported by Managent conducts Fine Arts Day every year and also trains students to compete in the University Kalolsavam. College was placed in 15th position scoring 56 points in a competition participated by more than 100 colleges in Kannur University.
N.S.S: National Service Scheme (NSS) No.57 is a prestigious outfit of the college. The college NSS unit was selected as the Best NSS unit in Kannur University for the year 2018-19 and Mr. Sailal N.V won the award for the Best NSS Programme Officer for the year 2018-19. NSS team had been in the frontline during the Flood relief works. The much notable achievement was a housing project for a deprived woman of Pariyaram and her small children spending 11 lakhs. The Hon. Minister of Higher Education, Dr. K.T Jaleel, handed over the key to the family at a function held in the college.
Cietha: Campus Initiative for Environment, Technology, Herbal and Health Alternatives (CIETHA) is an integrated programme for the promotion of values and awareness of earth-friendly living.
Clubs: Clubs are the platform for students to develop their talents in various fields. Students are free to choose their clubs in order to develop and exhibit their talents. Of these, Sahithyavedhi and Entrepreneur Development club empower students providing exposure to literary and industry endeavours and events .
Tutorial system: Tutorial system is a handholding effort of the teachers for the students. It is planned to mentor students and support them whenever necessary in all areas including personal life. It is also an effort to spot students who need encouragement and help in special ways. Every student comes in the care of one tutor.
Research: St. Joseph’s college has got a research wing under the patronage of Dept. of Social Work called ‘Centre for Management in Research and Development (C.M.R.D)’. CMRD was established in the year 2016. Within a short span of time CMRD was given the opportunity to conduct a statewide study of Sarva Shiksha Abiyaan (S.S.A), Govt. of Kerala.
International Journal: St. Joseph’s College is planning to launch an International Journal “SOCIOLOGUE. The work is in progress.
Seminars and Fests: Every dept. of St. Joseph’s College conducts a mega event in the form of national Seminars and Fests. Dept of Commerce conducts Esperanza management fest and national seminars on alternative years. Dept. of Social Work conducts Avancer National seminar series every year. Dept. of Computer Application conducts Concurso IT fest every year. Dept. of English comes up with Mindscape literary fest. Dept. of Business Administration is conducting Entreport an entrepreneurial meet.
Associations: Associations (social work) ALIVE (English) and other dept. platforms enable the social and cultural development of students.
NSS Unit and Dept of English has tie-up with a primary.school in the neighbourhood for enhancing quality through material and teaching support. This three year long tie-up will be elevated to the status of MoU in the coming year.