St Ann's College is privately owned and run as a not-for-profit, and is not funded by government, church or university.
The college was the brainchild of a group of women graduates of the University of Adelaide, notably Violet Plummer, Helen Mayo, Constance Finlayson, and Pauline Grenfell Price, who in the 1930s saw the need for an equivalent of the residential St Mark's College to accommodate female students from the country and interstate.
[1] St. Ann's College was officially opened with 16 residential students in 1947, much of the delay being attributable to World War II.
Residents at St Ann's College have a diverse background with most coming from either rural Australia or overseas.
[6] St Ann's has twelve residential advisors, each in charge of a corridor consisting of approximately 18 students.