USJ expresses its mission as being a private Catholic University in, of and for Macao, in of and for China, concentrating on post-graduate teaching and research, together with professional training in the liberal arts and social sciences.
USJ offers a wide range of courses ranging from the humanities to the social and technological sciences. New courses are regularly being added in order to keep pace with the most recent academic and scientific advances in the modern world.
There are programs for certificates, diplomas, licentiate (undergraduate/bachelor's), master's and doctoral degrees, and also some interesting Language Programs which include the teaching of Putonghua (Mandarin), Portuguese, Japanese, French, and English.
Catholic higher education in Asia began with the founding, in 1594, of the Colégio de Macau by Fr Alessamdro Valignano SJ. Frs Michele Ruggieri, Matteo Ricci and Adam Schall von Bell SJs studied in Macao, as did St Andrew Kim, the first Korean Martyr. Part of its teaching was transferred to the Seminário de São Jose in 1728 where the teaching of theology, philosophy and religious studies continues to this day (after a 28 year break between 1968 & 1996) as part on USJ's Faculty of Religious Studies and Philosophy.
In 1996 the formation of IIUM (renamed USJ in 2006) marked the formal resumption of a 400 year tradition.
In September 2017, the university moved its main campus building to Ilha Verde.[1]
The university's fourth rector, the Rev'd Prof Stephen Morgan DPhil(Oxon) was elected on 9 March 2020 and installed on 23 May 2020. He is a theologian and ecclesiastical historian who had previously been the university's Dean of the Faculty of Religious Studies.
In September 2021, the University announced that it had been given permission to recruit students from Mainland China for the first time.
The university has three campuses: The main campus in Ilha Verde, Nossa Senhora de Fátima (Our Lady of Fátima Parish); its original campus (NAPE1) in Sé (Cathedral Parish); and the Saint Joseph Seminary in São Lourenço (Saint Lawrence).[2]
The University of Saint Joseph offers a board range of academic programmes at the Pre-University, Undergraduate and Post-Graduate level, as well as non-degree programs, offered through the Lifelong Learning Office.
^"Contacts." University of Saint Joseph. Retrieved on January 17, 2018.『New Campus USJ’s headquarters have been moved to the new campus at: Estrada Marginal da Ilha Verde, 14-17, Macau, China 中國澳門青洲河邊馬路14-17號』and『NAPE1 [...] Address: Rua de Londres 16, Macau, China 地址：中國澳門倫敦街十六號(環宇豪庭三樓)』and "Saint Joseph Seminary [...] Address: 5 Largo de Sto. Agostinho , Macau, China(Entrance next to Sir Robert Ho Tung Library) 地址：中國澳門崗頂前地五號(何東圖書館旁入)"
