Graduate School

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Brief History

In answer to the clamor of PWU alumni and faculty members, the Philippine Women's University opened the Graduate School in 1931 with Professor Ramona S. Tirona as Chairperson of the Graduate Faculty. Offering the general MA curriculum, the Graduate School had its first graduate, Luz Alzona Zafra, MA (1931) and Maria M. Caminong, the second graduate in 1932.

Dean Conrado Benitez was appointed Chairman of the Graduate Faculty Committee in 1946 to replace Professor Ramona S. Tirona, who retired, and Miss Aurora Dino was named Secretary of the Graduate School Faculty Committee in the same year. In 1953, Dr. Maria Cid Peralta succeeded Miss Dino as Secretary of the Graduate School Committee, and in 1963, she was appointed the first dean of the Graduate School.

In response to the request of a number of men who wished to benefit from graduate programs offered at PWU, affiliate schools were established. The Philippine School of Social Work was the first affiliate of the Graduate School. It began with a professorial chair in Community Leadership donated by Don Andres Soriano and marked the opening of the first graduate year in Social Work Education in June, 1950. The first professor appointed to this chair was Mrs. Josefa Jara Martinez, who later on became the first director of this affiliate school.

Another landmark in the history of the Graduate School was the opening of two other affiliate schools in 1953: The Philippine College of Music and Arts directed by Dean Lucrecia R. Kasilag, and the Philippine School of Graduate Studies with Dr. Maria Cid Peralta as Director.

As an affiliate school, the Graduate school is open to both men and women. It offers Masters Programs in nineteen (19) fields and Doctoral Programs in three (3) fields. To cater to the needs of professionals in both government and private sectors who are seeking professional and personal advancement in their selected fields, several educational packages are available.