"The primary mission of college seminary formation is 'to protect and develop the seeds of a priestly vocation, so that the students may more easily recognize it and be in a better position to respond to it. The...goal of college seminaries tends to favor in a timely and gradual way the human, cultural, and spiritual formation which will lead a young person to embark on the path of the major seminary with an adequate and solid foundation'" (Program of Priestly Formation 131).

Providing a challenging and supportive environment designed to help students reach their full potential, the Josephinum College of Liberal Arts is dedicated to helping students grow in knowledge, culture, practical skills, and critical thinking: to be open to the world while rooted in the tradition of the Roman Catholic Church.

Josephinum graduates are well-rounded students and well prepared to enter a graduate school of theology. The Josephinum is a small college where students and faculty know one another well. The daily give-and-take of living in such unity provides one of the principal means of fostering the "human, cultural and spiritual formation" of which The Program of Priestly Formation speaks. Typically, students from more than 20 dioceses and archdioceses across the United States are enrolled in the College. Together, students and faculty constitute a lively community of prayer, study, and mutual enrichment.

Students are helped to develop the virtues necessary for independent action in their Christian vocations. All students have ample opportunity to serve in positions of responsibility and thus to develop their capacities for leadership.