WATERLOO — A record number of high school applicants have made Wilfrid Laurier University their first choice among Ontario universities for the 2008-09 academic year, with the overall number of applications also up significantly.

According to the Ontario Universities Application Centre, 4,083 high school applicants have listed Laurier as their first choice, up 10.1 per cent from last year. In total, 19,980 high school applicants listed Laurier among all their choices, up 11.2 per cent from last year.

The results put Laurier among the top three universities in Ontario in terms of total application percentage growth.

“I am delighted that Laurier continues to be such an attractive choice for students,” said Laurier president Dr. Max Blouw. “The increase in applications reflects Laurier’s strong reputation for providing students with an excellent education and one of the best university experiences in Canada.”

Applications were up for nearly all Laurier programs. In many cases, the increases were greater than Ontario-wide trends. For example, the increases in first-choice applications for Laurier’s Bachelor of Science and science BA degrees were 12 and 22 per cent respectively, while the system-wide first-choice increase for science programs was up just 1.7 per cent.

The total number of applications to the Laurier Brantford campus increased 35 per cent. First-choice increases were seen in many Brantford programs, including Health Studies (up about 63 per cent), Criminology (up 35 per cent), Journalism (up 28 per cent) and Concurrent Education (up nearly 10 per cent).