Villanova University is a Roman Catholic university in Villanova, Penn., a suburb northwest of Philadelphia. The campus is adjacent to Lancaster Avenue (U.S. Route 30) and Spring Mill Road (Pennsylvania Route 320).

In 2004, Villanova was again chosen as the top university in the North region by U.S. News & World Report magazine. Villanova has topped the rankings in this category for 15 consecutive years.

Villanova University was founded in 1842 as Villanova College by Augustinian monks Father Thomas Kyle and Father Patrick Moriarty. Villanova became an accredited university in 1953.

Bachelors, Masters, and Doctoral programs are offered through the College of Liberal Arts and Science, the College of Commerce and Finance, the College of Engineering, and the College of Nursing. Law degrees are offered through the adjacent Villanova School of Law.

Villanova University is also home to an NROTC unit which has commissioned more U.S. Navy admirals and Marine Corps generals than any institution besides the U.S. Naval Academy. The list includes former Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Paul X. Kelley, Gen. Anthony Zinni, Adm. Walter Doran, Adm. William J. Fallon, Rear Adm. Joseph Hare, and Brig Gen. Joseph J. McMenamin. In 2004, the commander of both U.S. Naval Forces Atlantic and U.S. Naval Forces Pacific were Villanova NROTC, meaning Villanova grads controlled virtually the entire U.S. fleet.

Villanova maintains an active volunteering community, with several charitable organizations and a leading service trip schedule. The university is also a perennial home to the largest student-run volunteer Special Olympics in the country.

Villanova has also produced such distinguished alumni as Charles M. Heimbold, American ambassador to Sweden and former chairman of Bristol-Meyers Squibb; Lawrence M. Waterhouse, founder of Waterhouse Securities; Herbert Ramrath, former chairman of GE Plastics; James Kim, chairman of Amkor Technologies; Francis Saul, president of Chevy Chase Bank; and James Curvey, former chairman of Fidelity; Villanova Law grad Ed Rendell, current Pennsylvania governor and general chair of the Democratic National Committee in 2000; and numerous other notable and successful graduates.

The school's mascot is the Wildcat. Sports teams participate in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big East Conference, except for football, which plays as part of Division I-AA's Atlantic Ten Conference. It won its one and only men's basketball national championship in 1985 in what is considered one of the most exciting college basketball games in NCAA history. The Wildcats are also part of the Philadelphia Big 5, the traditional Philadelphia-area basketball rivalry. In 2004, Villanova was placed on two years' probation by the NCAA after a string of minor violations between 2001 and 2003.