As Catholic schools struggle to stay open amid rising costs and decreasing enrollment, Catholic leaders are hoping to appeal to the Latino community.

According to Fox News Latino, Latinos represent 17 percent of the U.S. population, and 40 percent of them are Catholic. Some leaders believe that the community has endured lackluster education, and thus Catholic education could be appealing.

"At the heart of this opportunity is a simple and fundamental reality: our Catholic schools, which are the most effective instruments of catechetical and intellectual formation (and social transformation) this country has ever known, are uniquely poised to serve Latino families," according to the preface to a 2013 study by University of Notre Dame, titled "Renewing Our Greatest and Best Inheritance: Our Historic Opportunity to Empower Latino Families through Catholic Schools Strategy and Perspectives from Bishops and Pastors."

In the past 10 years, the number of Catholic schools in the country has decreased by 16 percent, from 8,114 nationwide to 6,841. In addition, enrollment has declined by 23 percent.

In order to combat this, Father Joe Corpora, who wrote the study's preface, recommends turning back to Catholic education's roots by seeking the interest of immigrants. For a long time, enrollment in Catholic schools was reportedly dominated by immigrants from Catholic countries like Germany, Italy and Ireland.

"The entire Catholic school system began by opening up schools for immigrant children," Corpora told FNL.

Since 2005, various dioceses have launched campaigns to pique the interest of Latinos. By 2010, Latino enrollment had increased by 9 percent.

"It's happening at a slower pace than we want, but it is happening," Corpora said. "It's moving in the right direction."

High tuition costs, however, remain an obstacle in luring Latino parents to enroll their children. Some Catholic leaders have suggested offering income-based tuition.

"This is like the Delta Airlines model where they sell certain seats for lower prices than others," Corpora said. "It doesn't make sense to fly a plane with empty seats and it doesn't make sense to run a school with 25 empty desks. ... We're not in this to build up Catholic schools but to give Latinos a good education."
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Follow Scharon Harding on Twitter: @ScharHar.

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