CV NEWS FEED // A new Catholic college in Steubenville, Ohio centered on trade, Catholic liberal arts, and low student debt costs announced it received state approval and is officially accepting applications for the fall of 2024.
“Learn a trade, earn a degree, and graduate without crippling debt,” reads the front page of St. Joseph the Worker College’s website. The college recently announced that the Ohio Department of Higher Education officially approved the college.
“This is a special day,” the message from the College Team read:
It’s no secret to any of you that it has been a long road to this amazing moment, and we couldn’t have done it without your continued support and prayers.
And while the journey to approval has now ended, the journey to welcoming our inaugural class has now begun—and there is much work to be done.
Jacob Imam, a Catholic convert from Islam and a graduate from Oxford, founded the college and is the college’s Vice President of Finance. Mike Sullivan, President of the college, holds a Master’s degree in Theology as well as experience in trades, especially in construction.
The college’s advisory board will include Dr. Scott Hahn, host of Pints with Aquinas Matt Fradd, and Bishop Paul Bradley of the Diocese of Steubenville, among others.
St. Joseph the Worker College offers a liberal arts trade program where
Students will receive broad training across all trades offered, as well as in-depth training in their specific trade. In the course of six years, they will graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Catholic Studies and be well on their way to journeyman status in their chosen craft. The program includes three years of study and hands-on training in Steubenville and three years as a full-time apprentice, preferably within our qualified network of master craftsmen in the US.
The new website explains the vision and mission of the college:
Our goal is to produce faithful Christians who are virtuous citizens, intellectually formed, and capable of building up the Church in their communities…
The Word became flesh and picked up a hammer. To imitate Christ, we must do the same: integrate the intellectual and the spiritual life with the physical work of man. The union of the head, the heart, and the hands is fundamental to the gospel, as it is the very same integrity that the Son assumed at his incarnation. Christ, who reveals humanity to itself, shows that the humble worker is not merely respectable but is the very archetype of humanity.
The college will also offer “daily Mass, regular confession, and perpetual adoration at the local parish. They won’t simply interact with other students, they’ll meet enthusiastic priests, model spouses, and troublesome kids. They’ll get to see what life will be like after college and begin to practice the virtues, rather than merely studying them.”
The announcement concluded, “Your support is needed just as much now as ever and we’d ask that you continue to keep us, and our future students, in your prayers as we move forward. And we are moving forward.”
