"Making a Deal": How Administrators Construct Postsecondary Opportunity in an Urban Catholic High School

• In Event: 54.056 - African American and Latino Families in Catholic Schools: Historical and Current Perspectives

Abstract

This article addresses the role of a predominant Mexican-American, low-income urban Catholic high school in San Antonio, TX in facilitating the college choice process for its students. This research, through an ethnographic methodology, reveals that school administrators invite college representatives that attract the interest of students with aggressive recruiting tactics in the form of on-the-spot acceptance packets and multiple scholarship incentives. These findings suggest that Catholic school administrators have the capability to not only expand students’ college selections, but also constrain their consideration sets by enticing them with financial incentives and easy access. Thus, structuring college choice as a process of “making a deal” compromises college choice and the overall mission of Catholic schools to develop students holistically.

Author

• Paul Joseph Rodriguez, The University of Texas - San Antonio