A Bishop's dream and a Maharaja's munificence culminated in the establishment of St. Philomena's College on October 9, 1946. His Excellency the Rt. Rev. Dr. Rene Feuga, the First Bishop of Mysore, vacated his mansion to make room for classes and the Wodeyars, the Mysore Royal family, encouraged the Diocese in its maiden venture into higher education.

The College was declared open by His Highness Sri Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar, Maharaja of Mysore- a rare honour and privilege for any institution.

It was history in the making in more ways than one and the first group of 380 Philomenites was aware of it. They knew that they were stepping into the very first of the Private First Grade Colleges in the Royal City, affiliated to the University of Mysore. Even more importantly, St. Philomena's was the first private Degree Science College in the erstwhile Mysore Region.