The University of Pennsylvania has received 35,788 applications for the Class of 2018, a 14 percent increase over the prior year’s applicant pool.

It will be the sixth class enrolled under Penn’s all-grant, no-loan financial aid policy instituted by President Amy Gutmann. Penn is the nation’s largest university with a program that enables all undergraduates eligible for aid to receive loan-free aid packages, regardless of family income.

The broad-based applications increase for the class entering Penn in the fall of 2014 saw significant gains from California, with a 19 percent increase to 4,680 applicants; New York, 15 percent to 3,655; and Florida, 13 percent to 1,474.

Also, Penn received applications from 165 countries, with international students comprising 17 percent of the applicant pool. Forty-nine percent of the applicants are female.

Increasing access to higher education among the most talented and promising students, regardless of socio-economic background, has been a key institutional priority at Penn.  More than 6,000 applicants, or 1 out of 6, this year are the first in their family to apply to college, an 8 percent increase over last year.  Applications from students identifying themselves as members of minority groups increased 25 percent to more than 15,000 applications, more than 40 percent of the application pool.

“Knowing that more highly talented and diverse students than ever seek admission to the University of Pennsylvania reinforces the value of our core mission of maximizing access to a Penn education,” Gutmann said. “We have long advanced the idea that democracy depends on well-informed, public-minded citizens from all walks of life, and we want the student body at Penn to reflect that. The Class of 2018 will be representative of the best in our nation and the world.”

Along with other members of the Ivy League, Penn will release admissions decisions on March 27.