Of that number, 20,949 students applied for Early Decision/Early Action, a five percent increase from last year, which at the time was largest early applicant pool in University history, said John W. Buckley, associate vice president for undergraduate enrollment.

Buckley said the growth in the early pool included strong gains from students in California, where 1,477 applied this year, as compared to 1,271 last year, and Texas, where 588 applied, compared to 514 last year. Both are markets that the University has been actively cultivating in recent years.

The numbers also indicate that the shift toward more students filing early is continuing, he said.

“You’d like to believe that those who are applying early are more keenly interested in the university and, at the same time, they tend to be students who are also well prepared,” Buckley said.

“It’s nice to have the opportunity to work with these students earlier in the cycle. You can then strongly encourage them to visit campus and dive into the rich information we have on the website.”

The 11,289 early applicants who applied to Fordham and successfully passed through the selection process are academically talented. The mean GPA for the early admits is just shy of 3.8 (on a 4.0 scale) and their mean testing stands at 1405, a 13-point increase over last year.

As a sign of Fordham’s emergence as a truly global institution, for the third consecutive cycle, more than 6,000 international students have applied for admission to the Class of 2022.

This year’s total of 44,343 applications, which came from all 50 states and more than 125 countries, is a 5 percent total increase from the previous year’s cycle and also represents the 25th consecutive cycle of application growth, said Associate Vice President for enrollment John W. Buckley.

International student applications in particular showed pronounced growth. Applications climbed to 4,332 from 3,690, a 17 percent increase from last year.

“In addition to the inherent strengths of the University, international students love our location in New York City,” Buckley said. “It’s a global city, and students from diverse backgrounds find it very appealing.”

Another milestone was the reintroduction of the early decision option for hopeful applicants. Students who apply in this category commit to enrolling at Fordham if they are accepted. Another early program category, early action, also allows students to apply before the regular deadline but without binding them to enroll.

Because of the success of the early action program, the Office of Admissions reinstated the early decision option for the first time in more than 15 years.

More than 19,000 students applied under the early action or early decision options, Buckley said, which marked another record for Fordham. Applications were due Nov. 1 and students were notified of acceptance decisions just prior to the winter holidays.

“We’ve built strong relationships with guidance counselors nationally and abroad. I think we do a very strong job of encouraging students to visit campus, and when they visit campus we provide them with a good experience,” Buckley said.

“Our number of visitors this year was record volume. We had lots of people coming through on tours, information sessions, and open houses, which I think is critically important as part of the college search process, because it allows students and families to have a firsthand experience [of Fordham].”

Buckley said that the admissions department is currently aiming for a total of 2,135 students to enroll in the Class of 2020.

Regular decision applications were due Jan. 1. Students will be notified of the decision by April 1.