Villanova University has completed a significant $170 million expansion, transforming the former Cabrini University campus into a new 112-acre satellite campus. This investment included $70 million to acquire Cabrini's land, buildings, and assets by closing out its debt, and an additional $100 million in renovations and upgrades. The project, which took two years, addressed deferred maintenance and introduced new facilities, including updated educational technology, landscaping, and recreational amenities such as pickleball courts and a restored fountain.
The newly revitalized Cabrini Campus, which officially opened for fall classes on August 24, 2026, will house five academic departments: psychological and brain sciences, graduate nursing, education and counseling, ethics, and part of communication, with approximately 75 faculty members based there. It will also serve as a residential hub for about 900 sophomores, roughly half of Villanova's sophomore class, and accommodate over 2,000 undergraduate and graduate students for classes. This expansion increases the percentage of undergraduates living on Villanova's campuses to over 80%.
Villanova plans to grow its undergraduate student body from about 7,000 to 8,000 over the next four years, starting with an additional 250 freshmen this year, while maintaining its selectivity (29% admission rate for this fall). The Cabrini acquisition expands Villanova's total size by 43%, and a planned acquisition of Rosemont College by 2028 will further increase its footprint to 430 acres. The university projects recovering its $170 million-plus investment within four years through the operation of the new campus, which will be connected to the main campus by 13 shuttle buses for a 1.9-mile, seven-to-twelve-minute ride.
