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