Admissions recently posted their common data set from the class of 2022. The biggest takeaway that I saw was the 58% early decision acceptance rate, which is interesting to note given it was their first time offering it.
To see the rest of the information from Class of 2022 follow this link:
https://www1.villanova.edu/content/villanova/enroll/statreports/_jcr_content/pagecontent/download_5/file.res/Common%20Data%20Set%20Fall%202018_v1.pdf
As with all schools that offer an ED program, the admit rate for ED applicants is substantially higher than overall admit rate…in part due to recruited athletes (strongly advised to apply ED if they want the coach to support the application) and legacy applicants (“thumb on the scale” is greater if ED commitment is made by a legacy applicant). The 99% yield rate for ED admits is attractive to a school like Nova (which struggled to get a 20% yield before 2016). This will help unhooked ED applicants as well.
Common Data Set stats for schools with ED programs that are academic peers of Villanova bear all of this out…e.g. Lehigh- 60% admit rate for ED applicants/25% overall admit rate; Bucknell- 56% ED admit rate/33% overall admit rate; Richmond-49% ED admit rate/33% overall admit rate.
The number of ED applications will like go up next year, as the extent of the admission boost becomes public knowledge for Villanova.
I am looking at the Common Data Set for the Class of 2022 that you linked above. It states that 999 students applied ED, and 409 were accepted. This is about 40.9%, not even close to 58%.