In an aspiration to make college education available to the island and to give Ivatan youths an opportunity to pursue a low-cost but quality higher learning without going to the mainland, and as a response to the government’s dispersal education program, the first tertiary school was established in the province.

On JUNE 20, 1968, SAINT DOMINIC SCHOOL was formally founded by Most Reverend Msgr. Mario Baltazar, O.P., Bishop-Prelate of Batanes-Babuyanes, after the Bureau of Private Schools approved its permit to operate in the same year.

Beforehand, it was the dream and initiation of the late Bishop Perigrindela Fuente to put a college institution in the island but due to his death in 1963, he was not able to establish it. This noble aspiration was continued by his successor Msgr. Baltazar who filed the application to the said bureau in 1967 with the assistance of Mrs. Agapita Fagar, a native of Mahatao, Batanes, who at that time worked in the said office. It was she who introduced the Prelate to the director of the bureau Dr. Narciso Albarracin who turned to be very enthusiastic about the idea and expressed hope that the proposed school would aim at a standard of excellence.

Prior to its approval, only courses in pre-school level—the nursery and kindergarten—were offered by the school way back in 1967.

It was then known as Saint Dominic School. In its first year of operation, the school offered one-year collegiate secretarial and six-month vocational courses in typewriting, stenography, dressmaking, and tailoring and hair culture.

The college grew in infrastructures and other school facilities as the years of its operation went by. The school also prospered in terms of the courses it offered. After 9 years of offering technical and vocational courses, the school was granted permit to operate Bachelor of Arts & Science courses as well as Computer Technology & Information course.

The SDC also opened an extension service program for two consecutive summers in 1987–1988. Courses included in this non-formal education were Home Economics, Effective Communication & Speech Arts, Small Business Management, and Beginners Computer Course.

Furthermore, with the help of Dr. Florentino H. Hornedo, a multi-awarded Doctor of Philosophy, the SDC opened in 1996 a Masteral Degree major in Educational Management and Science Education.

Throughout the years, the SDC has produced graduates who are now occupying top and important positions in the different public and private offices in Batanes as well as outside the province.

In 1972, the Saint Dominic School was named Saint Dominic College after tertiary courses were officially approved by the Bureau of Private Schools. It was later changed to Saint Dominic College of Batanes, Incorporated on December 9, 1988. It has been changed from proprietorship to a corporation and is being manned by a president and two vice presidents—one for academics and student affairs and another for non-academic and finance.

Even until these most recent years, Saint Dominic College has continued to progress not only in student population but more so in the school amenities and its curriculum. Since the school year 2007–2008, the school has implemented the new revised curriculum set up by the Commission on Higher Education, which will lead the school into a more competitive and productive learning institution.