For decades, Catholic education in the United States has seen the rise and fall of structural shifts within Catholic educational policy. According to the National Catholic Educational Association, there has been a precipitous drop of two million students in Catholic school enrollment from the early 1970s until the early 2020s. Urban diocesan schools may have taken the brunt of the squeeze as tuition fees became the new reliance instead of parish subsidy. Changes in demographics, expenses, and the COVID-19 pandemic aftermath make the case for new models of governance and strategic planning. It is in this era of uncertainty that retired superintendents and diocesan leaders assume new positions as advisors and contribute their years of hard-won knowledge.
Against that national backdrop, Michael J. Deegan concluded his work as the Superintendent of Schools for the Archdiocese of New York in 2023 and founded MJDEEGAN Educational Consultants. His tenure as superintendent from 2019 until 2023 began after decades of prior work in the same system. Rather than a break from Catholic schooling, the consulting practice is an extension of his work in governance, planning, and maintaining institutions in tuition-based schooling networks.
Deegan supervised 175 schools within New York City and seven surrounding districts, which meant tens of thousands were reached by his work. This experience has informed his advisory model, which encompasses curriculum development, management of enrollments, financial coordination, and representation to the public. This experience prepares Deegan to provide advisory services to Catholic education institutions and organizations concerned with assessing their long-term viability and alignment with mission.
The Catholic education consulting practice, in most cases, targets issues such as enrollment trends, governance structures, strategic planning, and financial forecasting techniques. According to national data, Catholic school enrollment declined by 6.4 percent during the 2020-2021 academic year, which represents the most significant one-year decline in enrollment records, as highlighted by the National Catholic Educational Association. Although there have been signs of recovery, most dioceses continue to experience uncertain demographics. In such conditions, advisory practices follow issues such as student enrollment, shared services, and the evaluation of grade configurations.
Deegan’s experience with tuition-based funding structures shapes this advisory role. Catholic schools derive most operating revenue from tuition, parish, and donor contributions. When economic downturns reduce family income or parish collections, schools face immediate budget gaps. Within the current post-COVID age, the Archdiocese of New York garnered 40 million dollars of philanthropic funding to stabilize its operations. The federal relief programs include the Paycheck Protection Program, Emergency Assistance for Non-Public Schools, Elementary and Secondary Emergency Relief Funds, E-Rate with the FCC, CARES Act, American Rescue Plan, etc. All these have had an impact on the current discussion of diversification.
A significant portion of Catholic education consulting works on the structures for governing. The structures for governing may include parish-based oversight, religious and lay boards, as well as mixed models for the diocesan system. As the superintendent, Deegan had to work with the following: the Office of the Superintendent provided recommendations, whereas individual schools retained the final authority in closure decisions, which were usually financially driven. These aspects have been analyzed in the advisory role, particularly during considerations involving consolidation and merger decisions by the diocesan systems.
Deegan received several awards over the years. In 2003, he received the St. Elizabeth Seton Compassionate Educator Award. He was also honored with the Joseph A. Bruno Award in 2005, which he co-accepted with Frank Siller of the Tunnel to Towers Foundation. In 2006, Deegan received the Brother Edmund Rice Centennial Honoree award. He has since received the St. Dominic Legacy Award in 2019, the Iona College Arthur A. Loftus Outstanding Leadership Award in 2020, the Archbishop Stepinac Sequere Deum award in 2023, and the National Catholic Education Association Lifetime Achievement award in Leadership in 2023. Such awards often appear in the bio section when superintendents transition to job roles such as consultants.
Advisory work also involves alignment with the mission. Catholic schools have dual missions of academic and religious excellence, and a strategic plan might measure Catholic identity as well as fiscal goals. Competition might arise in larger dioceses to keep traditional parish schools afloat while responding to modern demographics. A consultant is often called in to provide outside expertise to weigh enrollment, staffing, condition, and community concerns, among other factors. Deegan’s fifty-year history within Catholic education, as a teacher to a diocesan leader, is a wealth of experiential understanding in providing opinion on these various concerns.
The establishment of MJDEEGAN Educational Consultants follows a pattern seen in other education systems where senior administrators transition to advisory capacities after retirement. In Catholic education, this practice reflects both institutional continuity and resource constraints. Dioceses facing enrollment declines or governance transitions often seek leaders with prior superintendent-level experience. While consultancy does not carry formal decision-making authority, it can influence policy discussions, especially when tied to nationally recognized leadership.
When he retired in 2023, he did not step away from the field. Rather, with MJDEEGAN Educational Consultants, he continued to influence the areas of Catholic system education, including the topics of governance, strategic planning, and sustainable financial models for the most tuition-dependent of systems. National data still indicates varying enrollments and recovery patterns following the pandemic.
Michael J. Deegan’s professional trajectory follows the paradigm shift from being a classroom teacher to occupying positions in diocesan administration across several decades, culminating in the role of a consultant. All these developments can be seen as part of the larger paradigm shifts within Catholic education over the last five decades or more. In this context, the work of Michael Deegan after his retirement could be seen as a continuation of his lifelong passion for Catholic education and administration of Catholic schools.
