Villanova University

In October 1841, two Irish Augustinian friars from St. Augustine's Church in Philadelphia, with the intention of starting a school, purchased 200 acres (81 ha) in Radnor Township. Known as "Belle Air", the estate belonged to the late John Rudolph, a merchant of Burlington, New Jersey and Philadelphia. The school, which was called the "Augustinian College of Villanova", opened in 1842. Besides the novitiate and college, the Augustinians had pastoral care of Catholics living within a fifteen-mile radius. Bishop Francis Kenrick dedicated the chapel in 1844. Parishes at Berwyn, Bryn Mawr, and Wayne developed from the Villanova mission.

However, the Philadelphia Nativist Riots of 1844 that burned Saint Augustine's Church in Philadelphia caused financial difficulties for the Augustinians, and the college was closed in February 1845. The college reopened in 1846 and graduated its first class in 1847. In March 1848, the governor of Pennsylvania incorporated the school and gave it the power to grant degrees. In 1859, the first master's degree was conferred. In 1857, the school closed again as the demand for priests in Philadelphia prevented adequate staffing, and the crisis of the Panic of 1857 strained the school financially. The school remained closed throughout the Civil War and was used as a military hospital. It reopened in September 1865; since then it has operated continuously. Its prep school later moved to Malvern, a town along the Main Line. Today it is called Malvern Preparatory School and is still run by the order.

Villanova was all-male until 1918 when the college began evening classes to educate nuns to teach in parochial schools. In 1938, a laywoman received a Villanova degree for the first time. When the nursing school opened in 1953, women began attending Villanova full-time. In 1958, the College of Engineering admitted its first female student; other colleges admitted women only as commuters. Villanova University became fully coeducational in 1968.

During World War II, Villanova was one of 131 colleges and universities nationally that took part in the V-12 Navy College Training Program which offered students a path to a Navy commission. It has since graduated 25 US Naval Admirals and Marine Corps Generals; only the Naval Academy in Annapolis has generated more.

After World War II, Villanova expanded, returning veterans swelling enrollments and the faculty growing fourfold. Additional facilities were built, and in 1953, the college of Nursing and the School of Law were established. Villanova achieved university status on November 18, 1953. Between 1954 and 1963, 10 new buildings were built or bought on land adjacent to the campus, including Bartley, Mendel, and Dougherty Halls.

Villanova and Cabrini University issued a joint statement on June 23, 2023, announcing that Cabrini would cease operations in 2024 and be incorporated into Villanova. In March 2025, leadership of Rosemont College and Villanova University announced that the two institutions would merge by 2027.

Charity and community service organizations

Being a Catholic Augustinian school, the university has an active Campus Ministry.

The annual Special Olympics Fall Festival at Villanova University is the largest and most successful student-run Special Olympics in the world. It draws more than 1,000 athletes and 400 coaches from 44 Pennsylvania counties. Athletes may advance through the festival to regional and international competition. Students apply to be a part of the 82-volunteer planning committee, which works for more than nine months alongside Special Olympics Pennsylvania (SOPA), which oversees more than 300 events statewide.

Villanova University holds an annual NOVAdance year-long fundraising effort that culminates with a 12-hour dance marathon each Spring, raising money in support of the Andrew McDonough B+ (Be Positive) Foundation. NOVAdance began in 2014, and has since then become a yearly event.

The Villanova University community is noted for its participation in Habitat for Humanity In 2004, Villanova had more participants in the Habitat for Humanity Collegiate Challenge than any other U.S. university.