Associate Vice President for enrollment John W. Buckley said this application pool appears to be particularly diverse. Applications came from all 50 states and over 125 countries. This year, about 4,332 applications came in from international students applying to Fordham. This is a 17 percent increase from last year’s international application pool of 3,690.
“We’ve built strong relationships with guidance counselors nationally and abroad,” Buckley said. “In addition to the inherent strengths of the university, international students love our location in New York City. It’s a global city, and students from diverse backgrounds find it very appealing.”
As a whole, this year marks the 25th consecutive cycle of application growth. This growth may have been due to the reintroduction of the early decision option. This category of applications is for hopeful students who are sure of their commitment to Fordham University. In other words, by applying in this category, students commit to enrolling at Fordham upon acceptance. This category is different than “early action” which is a non-binding early application process.
According to the Office of Admissions, the early action program was reinstated for several reasons. However, its success was the top motivator. As a result, the option was made available to applicants 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.”
Early action and early decision applications were due Nov. 1. Decisions were announced just prior to the winter holidays for these students.
Buckley feels that Fordham’s campus experience helped to increase the amount of applications received.
“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].”
Regular decision applications were due Jan. 1 and admissions are still sorting through all the applications. However, despite the record 44,343 applications received, the admissions department is currently aiming for just 2,135 students to enroll in the Class of 2020, according to Buckley.
Potential students will be notified of Fordham’s Office of Admissions decision by April 1.
