Villanova University Pre-College Summer Academy Pre-College Summer Academy

Your days center on two classes: your 3-credit course, which you take with Villanova undergraduates, and PCAC 1000. PCAC 1000 includes mentor sessions where you check in with program coordinators, do group activities and often get help with homework. Classes run from Monday 28 June to Friday 17 July 2027, after move-in on 26 June and orientation the next day.

Outside class, the academic mentors organize group activities on some weeknights and weekends. Past examples include movie nights, softball, volleyball, yoga, cookouts and game nights on campus, along with a Philadelphia museum visit, a Phillies game at Citizens Bank Park and train trips to nearby towns. Commuting students are encouraged to join in, and the activities and trips are included in both prices.

If you pass both courses, you leave with four Villanova college credits: three from your chosen course and one from PCAC 1000. Once grades are posted, it's up to you to order an official Villanova transcript and send it wherever you need it. Whether another college counts those credits toward a degree is that college's call, and Villanova says only that it picks courses partly because versions of them are taught at multiple institutions.

The grades are real, too. PCAC 1000 is graded on attendance, participation, homework and a final project, and one past project had students research a college they could see themselves attending and write a paper on its academics, student life and application process. Villanova expects you at every class, and missing several, even with a good excuse, can mean a failing grade.

The program is for rising high school juniors and seniors and for students about to start college as freshmen. Villanova calls admission competitive and says space is limited, but it sets no minimum GPA. It wants academically talented, self-driven students who are ready for college-level material, and it suggests a recommender who knows you well and can speak to your work ethic, such as a teacher, coach or supervisor.

Villanova doesn't currently offer PCAC 1000 a second time, so this is a one-time program. Past participants who want more college classes can ask about applying as a High School Scholar instead.

Everything goes through Villanova's application portal, where you create an account first.

1. 1

   Start the application, select Pre-College Summer Academy and pay the $50 application fee.

2. 2

   Write a 250- to 500-word personal statement about a time you took initiative to challenge yourself, covering what motivated you, the steps and obstacles, and what you learned.

3. 3

   Record a two-minute video in the application system on why you chose to apply to Villanova, linking your experiences to one or more of its Augustinian values: Truth, Unity and Love.

4. 4

   Upload one academic writing sample and the signed parent permission letter, and arrange a letter of recommendation from a current or former teacher, counselor, coach or community member.

5. 5

   Email an unofficial transcript from each high school you've attended to cps.info@villanova.edu.

6. 6

   Get everything in by 5 April 2027, and expect a decision within about a week of applying.

7. 7

   If you're admitted, complete the CPS Admission Reply Form and pay the $2,000 deposit to hold your place.

For summer 2027 you pay $8,000 to live on campus or $6,000 to commute, plus the $50 application fee. The residential price covers tuition for all four credits, the program fee, books and materials, three meals a day and a place in a double room with a roommate. The commuter price covers the same tuition, fee and books, plus lunch on class days, and both prices include the trips and activities.

A $2,000 deposit is due when you accept your place, and the balance is billed in April with full payment due 1 May 2027. Children of Villanova alumni and dependents of US military veterans or active service members are eligible for 15% off tuition, although Villanova doesn't say how much of the flat price counts as tuition.

The refund rule is strict. Cancel 30 or more days before move-in on 26 June 2027 and you get the program fee back minus the $2,000 deposit. After that, you get nothing back.

Residential students live in a dorm staffed by academic mentors who are available 24 hours a day and enforce curfew. All residential staff comply with Pennsylvania's Act 153, which requires state criminal history and child abuse clearances and an FBI background check. Students sign in with a mentor by 10 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and by 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

Students are expected to stay on campus except on official program trips, and program staff chaperone every outing into Philadelphia. Villanova discourages leaving campus more than once during the program, if at all, and a residential student's weekend absence needs a parent or guardian to send a request with the reason at least a week ahead. Students who expect to leave more than once are encouraged to commute instead. Campus police patrol around the clock.

Health care needs some planning, because program students can't use the Student Health Center. The nearest outside doctors are at Penn Medicine at Radnor, and Bryn Mawr Hospital has the closest emergency room. The counseling center offers triage only, not ongoing therapy.