50% of the tickets sold at a school carnival were early-admission tickets. If the school sold 88 tickets in all, how many early-admission tickets did it sell?

If 50% of the tickets sold at a school carnival were early-admission tickets, then the fraction of early-admission tickets sold is 50/100 = 1/2.

If the school sold 1/2 * 88 = <<1/2*88=44>>44 early-admission tickets. Answer: \boxed{44}.