The Dangling Carrot: Proprietary institutions and the mirage of college choice for Latina students

The proximity of proprietary institutions to working-class urban areas is rarely explored as a factor in Latina student college choice. Utilizing Chicana Feminism as a conceptual lens, this study explores the path of proprietary college choice for Latina high school students. Qualitative interviews and geographic data reveal how factors of race, gender, and class contribute to the marketing and location of proprietary institutions. The authors argue that marketing expensive vocational programs to Latina students who cannot afford tuition contributes to the maintenance of racist, classist, and sexist hierarchies.