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Villanova University bond filing shows how much it will spend to acquire Cabrini’s campus

Villanova said it expects to start using the Cabrini campus in August 2026.

Villanova University plans to acquire Cabrini University's campus, shown here in October 2022, by the end of June.
Villanova University plans to acquire Cabrini University's campus, shown here in October 2022, by the end of June.Read moreTyger Williams / Staff Photographer
    by Harold Brubaker
    Updated 
    Published 

Villanova University will pay $45 million to retire Cabrini University’s debt when it acquires the school’s campus this year, and spend an additional $25 million on campus improvements, according to a bond offering statement released Wednesday.

The proposed $215 million bond sale also includes money for a 150,000-square-foot building that will house Villanova’s main library and other facilities. That new building, to be called the Vic Maggitti Hall, in honor of a $20 million gift from Victor J. Maggitti Jr, is expected to cost $163 million.

In November, Villanova finalized its agreement to acquire the 112-acre Cabrini property, which is about two miles from Villanova’s campus, but did not disclose financial details other than that Cabrini’s $42 million endowment will be transferred to Villanova under an arrangement overseen by Orphans’ Court.

» READ MORE: With stats stacked against them, students get help from soon-to-close Cabrini University to enroll elsewhere

Villanova’s endowment was worth $1.2 billion at the end of May. It has strong credit ratings from Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services.

Founded in 1957 by the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (MSC), the religious order of the college’s namesake, Saint Frances Cabrini, the university has had a focus on social justice learning throughout its history. Originally a college, it became a university in 2016.

Cabrini’s financial problems had been mounting over years. Standard & Poor’s downgraded Cabrini’s credit rating to “BBB-” from “BBB” in 2022, citing the institution’s long run of enrollment declines and operating losses. The school also announced about that time that it would eliminate a handful of senior academic leadership jobs — including the top spot of provost — as part of a larger reorganization to downsize.

Cabrini is scheduled to close in June.

Villanova said it expects to undertake renovations to the Cabrini campus to deal with deferred maintenance and reopen the campus by August 2026.