The self-concept of minority youth serves as the organizing focus for this paper. The various social and cultural forces which converge on this population are highlighted, as are the resulting deficiencies: (1) poor self-image; (2) frustration about high school; and (3) limited ability to communicate. A special program at the Casa Grande, Arizona Union High School has been designed to meet the specific needs of 43 of these youth, all of whom are 9th graders and are considered potential dropouts. The Tennessee Self Concept Scale was self-administered by the entire freshman class. Those students in the special academic program were found to be considerably more self critical and to devalue themselves as family members more than their peers. The results are discussed in terms of their usefulness both for better understanding these youths and for programming more effectively for them in the future. (TL)