Factors associated with decision making concerning Catholic high schools

After a remarkable history of educating millions of American Catholics in a system that evolved to serve this ever-growing population, Catholic schools now face a serious decline in their enrollment, and consequently a strain on their finances which are heavily dependent on tuition. Several reasons have been suggested for the consistent drop in student numbers over the past thirty years. One hypothesis is that the ever-rising cost of tuition and fees has made a Catholic school education prohibitive for many, thus forcing Catholic parents to choose alternative schooling for their children.; The major purpose of this study was to determine the importance of factors associated with Catholic school parents' decision not to have their child attend a diocesan Catholic high school. A secondary purpose was to determine the relationship between the importance parents assign to each of the factors and the following variables: socio-economic status of the family, the parent(s) with whom the child lives, the religion practiced by each parent, the number of school years that the parents were educated in a Catholic school, and the degree to which parents participated in Catholic parish activities.; A survey was sent to three hundred and eighty parents of eighth grade graduates of the Catholic schools of the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, who were not going to continue in the diocesan school system for high school. One hundred and fifty six completed and usable surveys were returned. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were utilized to answer the research questions.; Results indicated that while cost was a definite consideration in a parent's decision not to send a child to a Catholic high school, it was cloaked in a consumer's appraisal of whether or not the product was worth the price. Quality of academic programs, quality of teachers, better opportunity for college placement, school location, and transportation were ranked by parents as important factors when making a decision of where to send a child to high school.; Recommendations for future research focused on identifying criteria that parents use to assess a school's academic program and teacher quality.; Recommendations for future action included the need for Catholic schools to develop marketing strategies that target factors considered by parents to be important in the selection of a high school for their child.