Baylor University saw an increase in applications last year, school officials say, despite a sexual assault scandal that has rocked the campus.

About 14,300 prospective students applied by the early application deadline of Nov. 1 — a 19 percent increase from the previous year and the second-highest early application pool in school history, according to a spokeswoman and data provided by the school.

The robust numbers are an early indication that the Baylor brand remains resilient, even as prominent alumni decry the university's handling of a crisis that one study predicted could cost Baylor millions of dollars.

Despite anecdotal concerns about campus safety and administration transparency, experts say most high school kids remain focused on what they like about Baylor and how the school could benefit their future — regardless of what's in the news.

"I don't feel bad going to that school because I think they handled the situation well and it's cleared now," said Brynna Bailey, a 17-year-old from southeast Texas who is considering Baylor because of its welcoming campus atmosphere. "I feel comfortable there."

With the Feb. 1 regular admission deadline looming, it's too soon to tell how the final application numbers will shake out— or how many students will choose to go to Baylor if admitted.

But in past years, higher early application numbers tended to predict a strong application pool overall, the data provided to The Dallas Morning News showed. From 2008 to 2015, early applications represented, on average, 38 percent of Baylor's total.

Baylor, one of the oldest colleges in Texas and the world's largest Baptist university, has built its reputation over generations. It's known for its Christian mission, its sense of community and service — and academics that rank among the top 100 national universities in U.S. News & World Report.

It boasts an active alumni network, where a love of Baylor is passed on in family tradition. In recent years, it also emerged as an athletic powerhouse.

The football program rose to prominence before the sexual assault scandal led to the firing of its head coach last year. The women's basketball team reigns as Big 12 champions six years running. And this week, Baylor men's hoops rose to No. 1 for the first time in school history.

Concerns over sexual assaults — and how Baylor responded — escalated over the past three years, after two football players were convicted and another was charged.

An outside investigation found that 19 football players were accused of sexual or physical assault, including four gang rapes, since 2011, school regents have said. The investigation also offered a searing report of how Baylor handled sexual assaults campuswide, with a culture that blamed victims and tried to suppress complaints.

But negative attention on one issue usually isn't enough to overthrow the way students see an entire university, experts say. They point to schools such as Penn State, which rebounded from a sexual abuse scandal, and Virginia Tech, which is thriving after a 2007 campus shooting that killed 32 people. In those cases, the educational experience the schools offered remained intact.

"It does take something very significant and potentially to the core of what the institution delivers to its students in order to drive students away," said David Hawkins of the National Association for College Admission Counseling.

Julianna Comstock, a 17-year-old from San Antonio, decided to apply to Baylor after attending a weeklong choir camp there. She said she was impressed by the compassion and charisma of the staff and students and immediately felt "at home."

Her giddy reaction to being accepted was captured in an Instagram video this fall:

The video made its way to interim university president David Garland. He invited Comstock to visit his office, where she said they talked about the scandal.

"I was hesitant at first just because this was the first scandal that was so close to home. But I think, now, Baylor is safer than it has ever been," said Comstock, who also said she found Baylor's faith-based approach reassuring.

She has already enrolled in Baylor's music education program for the fall.

Bailey, the southeast Texas high schooler who wants to study speech pathology, said she's debating between Baylor and the University of Texas. Like many students, she has family ties to Baylor — her brother is on the golf team — and she's drawn to campus life.

"I like the small town feel it gives," she said.

High school students busy with college applications and extracurricular activities don't have a lot of "brain space" to reflect on the news, said Caryn Thexton, a college counselor at Trinity Christian Academy in Addison. She estimated about a third of the school's students applied to Baylor.

"The whole idea of being 17 or 18 and applying to colleges and wondering if you are going to be accepted, that's a scary time for students," she said. "That's what they are focused on."

Incoming freshman Julianna Comstock and interim President David Garland make a bear claw. Comstock, who has enrolled at Baylor, said they discussed the sexual assault scandal during their visit. ((Baylor University))

Still, not everyone is undeterred — particularly as unrest about the school's handling of the scandal reverberates among adults.

In an informal survey by the Baylor Line Foundation alumni group, which received almost 1,500 responses in November, 35 percent of members said they were "less likely" or "much less likely" to urge their children or grandchildren to attend Baylor after the scandal.

That number rose to 50 percent when taking rising tuition into account. Baylor costs $56,628 a year, including room and board.

Bobbie Villareal, a former prosecutor and advocate for sexual assault survivors who went to Baylor for undergrad and law school, said she would have pushed for her son to attend her alma mater two years ago. Now, she said, she wouldn't feel comfortable unless she saw a "marked change" in the school's response.

She said her son, who is a high school junior, took Baylor off his list on his own — and the scandal is "absolutely one of the reasons."

"There is not even a consideration at this point that I would send my son there, which is heartbreaking to me," Villareal said.

While the early application numbers bode well for Baylor, experts say, it's unclear whether the university has escaped backlash — or the ax has yet to fall.

"What you have here is a snapshot, a partial snapshot," said Terry Hartle, senior vice president at the American Council on Education. "Let's see where things are at the end of May."

A research paper out of Harvard Business School found that national media coverage of a college scandal leads to a drop in applications. For example, it found that a negative long-form news article in a high-profile national publication led to a 10 percent drop in applications the following year -- roughly the same effect as the school dropping 10 spots in the U.S. News & World report rankings. It's not known how the findings translate to other types of coverage.

In this May 3 photo, an "It's On Us" campaign sign stood on the Baylor University campus in Waco after National Sexual Assault Awareness Month. (Jae S. Lee / Staff Photographer)

Even if applications hold steady, it's possible Baylor could take a financial hit in lost donations.

An study commissioned by Bears for Leadership Reform, a group of alumni and donors who want more transparency from Baylor, estimated the university could lose about $101 million in private contributions because of the scandal.

Two of the school's biggest donors — Drayton McLane and John Eddie Williams, who helped fund a new football stadium — are among those who want answers from Baylor. The university has not released full details on what its outside investigation found, saying that officials received results orally and a written report does not exist.

A spokeswoman declined to comment on the lost revenue estimate, but said Baylor "is and will continue to be strong and financially healthy."

Hartle of the American Council on Education said there's "no defending" what happened at Baylor, but he believes the scandal will become a painful part of the university's history rather than its undoing.

"They're not out of the woods," he said," but bad things can and do happen at universities. It doesn't have to kill the school, or define it."