College of

LIBERAL ARTS AND
SCIENCES

DISCOVER YOUR PASSION

Two students work together in a Chemistry lab.

The oldest and largest of Villanova’s colleges, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences offers more than 40 academic programs and cultivates knowledge, understanding and intellectual courage for a purposeful life in a challenging and changing world.

CLAS undergraduate and graduate students can find opportunities for collaborative research and learning with faculty who are dedicated teacher-scholars and among the most distinguished in their fields. From pinpointing a protein that could hold a key to cancer screenings, to testing the impact of industry on local waterways, to critiquing creative writing alongside published novelists, each experience elevates learning and yields insights.

The College’s dynamic, integrated curriculum encourages creativity and innovation, developing critical thinkers, strong communicators and ethical leaders well positioned for diverse and interesting careers. With an emphasis on faculty-student engagement, experiential learning and a global perspective, CLAS is where students find their passion, path and purpose.

EXPLORE OUR PROGRAMS

BACHELOR'S

Pursue a degree from among more than 40 programs in the humanities, social sciences, math and sciences.

MASTER'S

Choose from more than 20 degrees, including online options in the humanities, social sciences, math and sciences.

DOCTORAL

Find out about our funded, full-time programs in philosophy and theology, and a part-time option in theology.

CERTIFICATE

Enhance your career with graduate certificates in humanities, social sciences, math and sciences, including online options.

MINOR

Complement your major and enjoy an even more interdisciplinary and diversified academic experience by adding a minor.

CURRICULUM

Prepare for a purposeful career with our undergraduate core curriculum, a foundation emphasizing communication and critical thinking.

THE COLLEGE EXPERIENCE

STORIES OF DISCOVERY

COLLEGE NEWS

Nancy J. Hirschmann, PhD

Villanova University’s 34th Annual Gender and Women’s Studies Conference Welcomes University of Pennsylvania’s Nancy J. Hirschmann, PhD

Nancy J. Hirschmann, PhD, will deliver the keynote address, “The Neoliberal Family and the Traditional Sexual Division of Labor: A Matter of Race, Sex and Class,” at the 2024 Gender and Women’s Studies Student Research Conference on Friday, March 22.

MARCH 18, 2024

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Agnes Hwang

Agnes Hwang ‘20 CLAS Selected for 2024 Payne Graduate Fellowship

Agnes Hwang ’20 CLAS has been named a 2024 recipient of the USAID Donald M. Payne International Development Graduate Fellowship. Hwang is the first Villanovan to receive this prestigious fellowship, which attracts exceptional candidates interested in pursuing careers in the Foreign Service of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

MARCH 14, 2024

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Paul Farber, PhD, director and co-founder of Monument Lab

Monument Lab Director and Co-founder, Paul Farber, PhD, Named 2024 Praxis Award Recipient

The Villanova University Ethics Program in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences has named Paul Farber, PhD, director and co-founder of Monument Lab, a nonprofit public art and history studio based in Philadelphia, the recipient of the 2024 Praxis Award in Professional Ethics.

FEBRUARY 27, 2024

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Queen's University Belfast

The College for Liberal Arts and Sciences hosts Scholars from Queen’s University’s Seamus Heaney Centre

The College’s Center for Irish Studies, Department of English and Creative Writing Program welcome scholars from the Seamus Heaney Centre, Queen’s University Belfast to Villanova University from Monday, March 11 through Thursday, March 14. 

FEBRUARY 14, 2024

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AT A GLANCE

60+

GRADUATE STUDENTS PRESENT AT ACADEMIC CONFERENCES EACH YEAR

  

94%

SUCCESSFUL PLACEMENT RATE
FOR CLASS OF 2023

  

17

STUDENTS OR ALUMNI EARN FULBRIGHT SCHOLARSHIPS IN 2022 – 2023

  

81%

OF STUDENTS SEEKING A RESEARCH EXPERIENCE PARTICIPATED IN AT LEAST ONE

  

89%

OF STUDENTS SEEKING AN INTERNSHIP PARTICIPATED IN AT LEAST ONE

  

96%

of students seeking a service experience participated in at least one