Rural Latinx Students’ Spatial Imaginations of Their College Choices: Toward a Student Understanding of “Rural-Serving Institutions” in California’s San Joaquin Valley

Rural students face multiple issues pursuing higher education, including financial hardships, inadequate college preparation, and geographic isolation from postsecondary institutions. These are further complicated for rural Latinx students, especially those immigrant farm working backgrounds, who positioned at the intersection of systems oppression. Yet, students’ choice transition experiences rarely centered in education literature. This article examined choices nine high school seniors California’s San Joaquin Valley chose to attend a public institution this agricultural region. drew on three indicators culturally engaging campus environments (CECE) model employed Chicana/Latina feminist pláticas methodology analyze elements that motivated enroll institutions Valley. Findings demonstrate purposely these because they imagined such would (a) be racially spatially familiar, (b) allow them give back their communities through relevant majors, (c) offer tight-knit collegiate environments. Recommendations researchers practitioners interested increasing success expanding traditional definitions rural-serving (RSIs) provided.