Villanova University is a private, Catholic university located in Radnor Township, a suburb northwest of Philadelphia on the Pennsylvania Main Line. It is conducted by the Augustinian order. The campus is adjacent to Lancaster Avenue and Spring Mill Road. The school is the oldest and largest Catholic university in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

For more than a decade, Villanova University has been ranked #1 by U.S. News and World Report in the Best Universities-Masters category in the northern region. Villanova has a number of highly regarded academic programs, including an engineering school that is ranked #11 among undergraduate engineering programs whose highest degree is a masters by U.S. News and World Reports. Also, the business school is ranked #19 in the 2006 Business Week rankings of the Top 50 undergraduate business schools and #87 in the 2006 U.S. News rankings of the top undergraduate business schools. U.S. News lists the admissions selectivity as "More selective."