Villanova University is poised to merge with Rosemont College, a small school just minutes away from its main campus in the Philadelphia suburbs.
The arrangement, announced on Monday, marks the second time in two years that the university has moved to expand its footprint by scooping up a neighboring school. Villanova acquired the 112-acre campus of shuttered Cabrini University in 2024.
Rosemont is located less than one mile from Villanova’s main campus and though the schools both stem from the Catholic faith, they represent two sides of an increasingly bifurcated higher-education landscape. Small schools across the US are facing declining enrollment, hitting their bottom lines, while larger, more prestigious ones are in growth mode, looking for way to expand their brand.
For example, Northeastern University has been expanding beyond Boston, and announced last year it would buy a college in New York City. Vanderbilt University, located in Nashville, is planning for a campus in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Rosemont had about 484 undergraduate students in 2023, a 24% decline from 2017, according to data provided by the National Center for Education Statistics. It also received a warning from its accreditor in 2022, which emphasized the need to improve its institutional assessment practices. Meanwhile, Villanova boasts an over $1 billion endowment.
The arrangement, announced on Monday, marks the second time in two years that the university has moved to expand its footprint by scooping up a neighboring school. Villanova acquired the 112-acre campus of shuttered Cabrini University in 2024.
Rosemont is located less than one mile from Villanova’s main campus and though the schools both stem from the Catholic faith, they represent two sides of an increasingly bifurcated higher-education landscape. Small schools across the US are facing declining enrollment, hitting their bottom lines, while larger, more prestigious ones are in growth mode, looking for way to expand their brand.
For example, Northeastern University has been expanding beyond Boston, and announced last year it would buy a college in New York City. Vanderbilt University, located in Nashville, is planning for a campus in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Rosemont had about 484 undergraduate students in 2023, a 24% decline from 2017, according to data provided by the National Center for Education Statistics. It also received a warning from its accreditor in 2022, which emphasized the need to improve its institutional assessment practices. Meanwhile, Villanova boasts an over $1 billion endowment.
