In two weeks, Fairfield University will have officially finalized its new incoming class, as students across the nation submit their enrollment deposits and commit to a school for their higher education.

This year, about 4,500 students were admitted to the university, with the Class of 2030 applicant pool being once again the largest and most selective in university history.

With the May 1 deadline approaching, here’s a look at Fairfield’s application, admissions and enrollment numbers over the past decade.

What’s Fairfield’s admission rate?

This year, 4 in 5 high school students who applied to Fairfield were not accepted to become part of the Class of 2030, marking the most selective applicant pool in the university’s history.

“As we [have] grown in national prominence, more students are selecting Fairfield as their first choice,” Cory Unis, Fairfield’s vice president for enrollment, said when the university announced the new class profile at the end of March.

The 21% admission rate also represents a 40-percentage-point drop compared to 10 years ago, when the Class of 2020 had a 61% acceptance rate. During the same period, Fairfield has become more selective than Villanova and Fordham and is now the third-most-selective university in the state, behind Yale and Wesleyan University.

How many prospective students apply to North Benson?

This year, the university received 21,662 applications from students across 49 states, including D.C. and Puerto Rico and 97 countries.

In 2016, Fairfield received just over 11,000 applications.

Even as applications have more than doubled over the last decade, Fairfield has maintained its test-optional policy and does not require applicants to submit written supplements.

Nearly two-thirds of the admitted students for the incoming class did not include standardized test scores.

“Fairfield University evaluates prospective students using a holistic review process, looking at all aspects of a student’s record in making our admission assessment. This process reflects our educational mission as a Jesuit institution,” the university says on its website.

How has first-year enrollment changed in recent years?

Since 2021, when the class of 2025 arrived on campus for the first time, Fairfield has experienced what some students have described as the university “over-accepting” students, which led to so-called forced triples, lounges converted into rooms and longer lines at The Tully.

According to university data, the number of enrolled students per year at Fairfield hovered between 1,056 and 1,118 before enrollment considerably increased during the post-COVID years. 

Starting in 2021, more students have also decided to accept the university’s offer of admission, contributing to the larger cohorts. The current first-year class was at a 28% yield rate, which indicates the percentage of admitted students who ultimately enroll. That number stood at 18% just five years ago.