Bianca Paiz
Director of College Initiatives
The Cristo Rey Network
What drew you to the world of college admission counseling?
I grew up in inner-city Chicago and watched talented first‑generation and low‑income students miss out on life-changing opportunities simply because they didn’t have access to high-quality high school counseling. College had a tremendous impact on my life as a first‑gen student and on my family.
I had initially intended to pursue a career in a museum and even spent a short time exploring my curatorial dreams in the education wing of The Phillips Collection. But after graduating, what hooked me was a “temporary” return home to help found the college counseling department at Rauner College Prep, a public charter high school serving low‑income first-generation students. Within months I was celebrating admission letters, coaching students toward May 1 enrollment deadlines, and tearing up with families at our first College Signing Night — sharing the same hope my own family once felt. I realized that a single counselor’s guidance can alter a whole family’s trajectory and that this field includes dedicated colleagues who solve those puzzles every day.
Since those first college applications at Rauner, and now as director of college initiatives for the 40 schools in the Cristo Rey Network, I’ve stayed because the work demands relentless learning, system‑building, and advocacy. It includes some of this country’s most brilliant minds and it gives me an excuse to get nerdy on behalf of amazing students and families.
What is your favorite part of the job?
Although I now operate at the network level, the best moments are still student‑facing: a senior who shouts, “You made that!” after using our college‑match tool; a QuestBridge finalist announcing their match college; a family thanking me for making FAFSA feel doable. Hands-down, it’s seeing a strategic idea come alive in a student’s life.
How has NACAC played a role in your career?
I joined NACAC in 2010 as a first‑year counselor and quickly discovered its power to shrink a big profession into a supportive community. At my first conference in St. Louis, I met admission reps from private and public colleges, Jesuit counselors, and charter school leaders. I built lasting relationships with the people who make it special and through them learned how to blend advocacy with day‑to‑day counseling.
Today, NACAC’s research informs the PD I design for our 40 high schools while the SIG communities (especially the Latinx SIG and Public Charter Schools SIG) help me problem-solve the moment solutions shift. In short, NACAC remains my professional North Star.
What do you think is the biggest challenge facing our profession today?
Keeping equity front and center is challenging while policies and funds are in flux as institutions and practitioners try to respond to the new administration’s executive orders. My team serves students from the lowest‑income quartile, many of whom will be the first in their families to attend college. Counselors must stay on top of ever‑shifting admission requirements, translate new financial‑aid rules, and still provide individualized guidance all with limited time and staffing.
Recent headlines illustrate how quickly politics can upend a student’s plans: national scholarship programs have cut funding to partner campuses caught in free‑speech controversies, and state‑level directives aimed at DEI have abruptly eliminated need‑based aid for certain colleges. When situations like these arise, counselors have to rebuild financial packages in real time and restore families’ confidence in higher education.
It’s a tough moment to be in this profession, with the very value of college often questioned and policy shifts threatening access and success. Yet it is precisely now, when opportunity is most at risk, our expertise is needed.
When you aren’t working, what do you like to do?
I recharge by cheering on the Cubs, Bears, or Bulls, depending on the season; mentoring a Hope Chicago scholar; and chasing down new restaurants. Give me a free weekend and I’m knee‑deep in a home renovation project with a classic 2000s playlist on repeat, #millennial.
If you could be any fictional character, who would it be and why?
The Disney character Mulan. As a kid I loved her tenacity; as an adult I admire her instinct to challenge norms, think strategically under pressure, and stay fiercely loyal to family and community. Bonus: I can still perform “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” start to finish.
Published May 12, 2025