The purpose of this study was to determine what effect the perception of an institution's prestige has on strategic planning undertaken by American Catholic colleges and universities and whether these schools engage in purposeful and effective positioning of themselves in the market. The study considered efforts to achieve preeminence amongst comparable Catholic higher education institutions situated in the Western U.S. Nine Catholic colleges and universities situated in California, Oregon and Washington met the research design criteria. Administrators and faculty from these nine institutions were contacted via survey and were represented in the subject respondent population. Cross-tabulation and analysis of the survey responses correlated with the institutions' quality dimensions as rated by "U.S. News & World Report" Annual College Rankings in 2001, 2008, and 2012, were reviewed in light of the identified prestige indicators advanced by Brewer, Gates and Goldman (2006). Subjects' responses revealed prestige perception and awareness of preeminence that strongly correlated with their institutions' "U.S. News and World Report" rankings as well as their groupings according to the prestige indicator rubric outlined by Brewer et al. Top Level institutions in this study also reflected accurate self-awareness in identifying themselves in the top tier of Catholic higher education institutions in their region, consistent with the "U.S. News & World Report" Masters-West ranking, but recognized that they did not belong to the elite national group of the most prestigious Catholic schools in the U.S. Responses to questions exploring aspects of strategic planning supported Brewer et al.'s identification of distinctions between different categories of institutions as to the types of challenges identified and how priorities are shaped for investing for the school's future. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]