Villanova University is a private institution that was founded in 1842. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 7,100, its setting is suburban, and the campus size is 260 acres. It utilizes a semester-based academic calendar. Villanova University's ranking in the 2014 edition of Best Colleges is Regional Universities (North), 1.

Named for the Spanish Augustinian St. Thomas of Villanova, Villanova University is still affiliated with the Augustinian Order. Located just 12 miles from Philadelphia in the suburb of Radnor Township, Pa., Villanova—often shortened to ’Nova—offers popular student organizations like the Blue Key Society, which gives admissions tours and hosts prospective student days, and Rays of Sunshine, the student community service office.