The seminary was officially established on August 24, 1855, through an Apostolic Brief of Pope Pius IX. Civil degrees are conferred by virtue of a charter granted by an act of the Pennsylvania State Legislature on April 18, 1870. Since 1870 over 300 students have earned the Master of Arts degree and 400 Master of Divinity degrees. More than 2,400 diocesan and religious students have been ordained priests.
Oetgen, Jerome (2000). Mission to America: A History of Saint Vincent Archabbey, the First Benedictine Monastery in the United States. Washington: Catholic University of America Press. ISBN0-8132-0957-9.