The University of San Agustin is a private Catholic university in Iloilo City, Philippines, the first in Western Visayas. Augustinian friars from Spain belonging to the Province of the Most Holy Name of Jesus of the Philippines founded the University of San Agustin on July 15, 1904. They were assisted by their American confreres from the Augustinian U.S. Province of St. Thomas of Villanova. The Spanish Augustinians were the first Christian missionaries of any religious order to enter the Philippines and begin its conversion to Catholicism. The university began as a preparatory school for boys during the American colonial period. It was granted government recognition on December 12, 1912 for its various course offerings. On February 5, 1917, it was formally incorporated under the name Colegio de San Agustín de Iloilo. In 1928, one of the country's oldest campus publications, The Augustinian Mirror, was established, producing some of the country's well-known writers. The 1930s saw rapid growth with the opening of three colleges in quick succession: College of Liberal Arts in 1935, College of Commerce in 1936 and College of Law in 1937.