Villanova University

Overview

Rankings

• #1 Best Communications Colleges in Pennsylvania
• #3 Best Online Colleges in Pennsylvania
• #4 Highest-Paying Colleges for Communications
• #4 Best Business Colleges in Pennsylvania
• #4 Best MBA Programs in Pennsylvania
• #5 Highest-Paying Colleges for Public Health
• #6 Best MBA Programs for International Business
• #7 Best Engineering Colleges in Pennsylvania

Academics & Admissions

Is It Hard to Get Into Villanova University? Acceptance Rate & Requirements

As a private institution in Villanova, Pennsylvania, Villanova University reviews applications selectively. The acceptance rate runs near 27%. Admitted students typically arrive with an average SAT score near 1,460. The graduation rate is roughly 92%.

Acceptance Rate

27%

Retention Rate

95%

SAT Average

1460

ACT Midpoint

33

SAT Range

1395–1510

ACT Range

32–34

Full-Time Faculty

63%

Faculty Salary (mo)

$13,825

Student–Faculty Ratio

10:1

Diversity Index

0.52

First-Gen Students

13%

Applicants

23,835

Admitted

5,576

Inside the Admissions Office

School-reported Common Data Set · 2024-25

The acceptance rate tells you how hard Villanova University is to get into. Its Common Data Set tells you what happens once you are admitted: how many students say yes, how many arrived without test scores, and whether applying early tilts the odds. 28% of admitted students go on to enroll here, making it a school many admits weigh against other offers.

Yield Rate

28%

of admits enroll

Submitted SAT

19%

of enrolled freshmen

Submitted ACT

9%

of enrolled freshmen

Early Decision Admit Rate

54.2%

vs 27.0% overall

Cost & Financial Aid

How Much Does It Cost to Attend Villanova University? Tuition, Net Price & Aid

Published tuition at Villanova University is $67,776, but few families pay that. The number to watch is net price, what students actually pay each year after federal grants and institutional scholarships. Here it averages about $43,756. Students from families earning under $30,000 typically pay closer to $17,823 after need-based grants. The median graduate leaves with about $25,874 in federal student loans.

In-State Tuition

$67,776

Out-of-State

$67,776

Avg Net Price

$43,756

Median Debt

$25,874

Pell Grant Rate

12%

Federal Loan Rate

35%

Students Like You

Tell us a little about yourself to see what students like you have typically experienced at Villanova University — the net price for your income, your admission odds, and the outcomes that follow. These are patterns from federal data, not predictions.

Graduate Outcomes

Is Villanova University Worth It? Graduate Earnings & ROI

Ten years out, alumni of Villanova University earn a median of $100,423, well above the national average for bachelor's degree holders.

6 Years After Entry

$84,905

8 Years

$94,574

10 Years

$100,423

Debt-to-Earnings

0.26x

Earning > $25K

89%

Social Mobility

Data: Raj Chetty's Mobility Report Card · 30M+ anonymized tax records

Does Villanova University Drive Upward Mobility? Economic Mobility & Low-Income Outcomes

Villanova University is a genuine engine of upward mobility. Its mobility rate, the share of students who start in the bottom income quintile and climb to the top, is 1.32%, well above the typical college. Access is narrower: only about 2.3% of students come from the bottom income quintile, typical of more selective, higher-income institutions. Among bottom-quintile students who attend, roughly 58% go on to reach the top of the income ladder. The median family income of students sits near $159,900, a snapshot of the campus's socioeconomic mix.

Mobility Rate

1.32%

Bottom 20% → Top 20%

Success Rate

58.0%

If bottom 20% get in

From Bottom 20%

2.3%

Share of students

Parent Median Income

$217,248

today's $ (2015 cohort data)

Social Capital

Data: Opportunity Insights Social Capital Atlas

How Connected Is Villanova University? Social Capital & Cross-Class Networks

Social capital, the web of cross-class friendships that researchers link to long-run upward mobility, runs high at Villanova University. Its economic connectedness score is 1.84, where about 1.0 is the national norm. Its friending bias is low (0.01), a sign that students from different economic backgrounds actually mix rather than self-segregate. Around 5% of students take part in civic and volunteering activity.

Economic Connectedness

1.84

Cross-class friendships

Friending Bias

0.01

Lower = more inclusive

Volunteering Rate

5.0%

Support Ratio

1.00

Community support

Innovation & Knowledge Creation

Patents, inventors, and research influence · Opportunity Insights & Times Higher Education

Villanova University produces inventors at a measurable rate, with 47 patents tied to its graduates.

Inventor Rate

0.68%

Top 34% nationally

Patents Produced

47

Linked to graduates

Patent Citations

6

Downstream influence

Inventors From Low-Income

0.68%

Bottom-20% families

Institutional Finances

Data: NCES IPEDS

Federal Grants

$8,427,936

Top Programs

The fields Villanova University awards the most degrees in, by share of completions. Where federal field-of-study data exists, we show what graduates in that major earned early in their careers. Each links to its degree guide — or see what someone with your income, scores, and major would pay and earn here in the Students Like You simulator.

• Business & Marketing 23% $107,954 early-career
• Engineering 14% $88,611 early-career
• Social Sciences 13% $70,680 early-career
• Health Professions 11% $86,800 early-career
• Communications 8% $53,598 early-career
• Psychology 7% $39,121 early-career
• Biology & Biomedical 6% $40,390 early-career
• Physical Sciences 4% $53,704 early-career

Early-career median earnings by major (typically 1–2 years after completion, bachelor's level where available), in today's dollars (CPI-adjusted). Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard field of study. Distinct from the school-wide 10-year median; suppressed for small programs.