“I Kind of Backtracked a Little”: The Nonlinear College Choice Pathways of Rural Latinx Students

Abstract

Leading college choice theories assume that all students follow linear paths to college. Applying a college-conocimiento framework, this article finds that rural Latinx students deviated from traditional, sequential pathways, experiencing reverse transfer, leaves of absence, changing transfer plans, and stopping out of college. Findings from several pláticas conducted over 4 years reveal that (a) institutional misalignment, (b) new passions, (c) financial responsibilities, and (d) familial relationships contributed to rural Latinx students’ nonlinear college choice pathways.

Introduction

California is acclaimed for its robust higher education system; however, the state’s largest racial/ethnic population, Latinxs, ¹ is disproportionately concentrated in public two-year institutions and severely underrepresented in public four-year research institutions (Cook, 2025). In addition to issues of college choice, only 51% of Latinxs complete their two-year or four-year degree within 6 years (Santiago et al., 2024). Researchers have argued that the college choice pathways of Latinx students are “post-traditional” (Santiago et al., 2024) and “nonlinear” (Acevedo-Gil, 2017) because they do not conform to “white normative standards,” such as four-year graduation rates (Garcia, 2019). Additionally, Latinx students’ identities and collegiate experiences are often framed from a monolithic perspective, ignoring the distinctive college paths of rural ² Latinx students. Accordingly, this article examines the unique, nonlinear college choice pathways of rural Latinx students, aiming to challenge the homogenization of the Latinx college student experience and white normative standards of college completion and success.

The nonlinear college choice pathways of Latinx and rural Latinx students challenge the linearity embedded in dominant college choice models (e.g., Hossler & Gallagher, 1987). These models have been heavily criticized for their limited applicability to the higher education pursuits of students from low socioeconomic and diverse backgrounds (Bergerson, 2009). Rather than experiencing “college as a onetime event” (Iloh, 2018, p. 230), Latinx students are more likely to repeat stages of the college choice process and experience interruptions, stop-outs (i.e., breaks from school), and detours (Acevedo-Gil, 2017). Other widely used frameworks in higher education include academic undermatch theory and utility maximization models (Hoxby & Avery, 2012), which contend that students should attend the most selective institution that admits them. However, enrolling in the most prestigious and competitive institution might not be the ideal choice and path for all students, especially when place-based factors like proximity to home significantly matter for rural Latinx students and their families (Freeman, 2017).

This article is guided by the following research question: How do academic, economic, and cultural factors influence the nonlinear college choice pathways of rural Latinx students? A significant contribution of this research includes the longitudinal approach employed over four academic years with the same group of rural Latinx students to track their college choices and experiences over time, in effect challenging the linearity embedded in leading college choice models that fail to consider how students’ plans and priorities considerably change and do not prioritize white normative standards of collegiate success. Most importantly, this research unapologetically centers the identities, college choices, and collegiate experiences of rural Latinx students to challenge Latinx homogeneity and essentialism in higher education literature and contribute to emerging research that centers the importance of nuance, context, and intersectionality when theorizing about the college choice processes and pathways of institutionally marginalized student groups.

Literature Review

Nonlinear College Choice Pathways

Researchers have begun to challenge and deviate from conventional, linear models of postsecondary education access and choice that were initially developed based on the identities and experiences of a particular college student (i.e., white, male, and middle-class). Research has revealed that low-income Black and Latino students often face structural barriers, such as limited access to resources and financial insecurity, which prevent them from following a straightforward path to college completion (Cox, 2016). Rather than engaging in long-term educational planning, these students frequently make choices based on immediate life demands and constraints (Cox, 2016).

Moreover, students in community colleges, especially those from low-income and minoritized backgrounds, experience multiple detours, restarts, and even lopped back to previous educational trajectories (Solórzano et al., 2013). These interruptions are typically driven by financial challenges, including unaffordable tuition, inadequate financial aid, and the need to support family members through employment (Solórzano et al., 2013). Such disruptions frequently extend the time needed to earn a degree and sometimes result in permanent withdrawal from higher education (Solórzano et al., 2013).

Reverse transfer—where students transition from four-year institutions to two-year colleges—further illustrates deviations from traditional higher education trajectories. This form of nonlinearity, often experienced by Latinx students, is influenced by academic struggles, financial stress, family proximity, and employment demands (Ruiz Alvarado, 2014). Yet, reverse transfer can also serve as a strategic alternative to fully exiting the higher education system, offering students a more sustainable path forward (Ruiz Alvarado, 2014).

Rural Latinx College Choice Pathways

Researchers have long documented rural students’ geographic isolation from higher education institutions. Increased proximity to colleges correlates with higher application rates among rural populations (López Turley, 2009). Research has also found that communities with large Latinx populations, larger manufacturing labor forces, and greater shares of the population in rural counties tend to have greater access to two-year colleges (Hillman, 2016), effectively constraining the college choices and pathways of Latinx and rural students. The lack of exposure to higher education, especially varied and diverse options, may trap rural students “into a low-mobility, low-flexibility, low-socioeconomic status” (McDonough et al., 2010, p. 204) because of limited outreach and university involvement in rural areas.

Despite these limitations, rural Latinx students exhibit resilience and resourcefulness in navigating postsecondary education. Many choose to attend local colleges within their rural communities because these communities are “home” to the students, since it was where their parents decided to settle and raise their families (Freeman, 2017). Factors like proximity to home, place attachments, and a family-based approach to college decision-making have been found to influence local community college enrollment (Freeman, 2017). Other research has similarly found that rural Latinx students consciously chose to remain in local and regional institutions due to these institutions’ racial and spatial familiarity and congruency with their rural ways of life and values, including tight-knit academic cultures and majors aligned with their personal and professional goals of giving back (Puente et al., 2023). These studies counter the existing literature on academic undermatch, which suggests that students should prioritize the status and selectivity of higher education institutions, and highlight the unique factors that rural Latinx students consider in their decision-making processes.

In addition to personal and familial factors, the spatial inequities embedded in the U.S. higher education landscape and rural areas also shape rural Latinx students’ college choices and pathways. During the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, rural Latinx students chose to attend “less prestigious” institutions, like community colleges and lower-ranked four-year universities, due to priorities that included family, finances, and mental health (Puente, 2022a). These decisions were often framed not by institutional prestige but by accessibility and practicality during a crisis (Puente, 2022a). Spatial inequities also shape the college choices and paths of rural Latinx community college students. Rural Latinx students from California’s San Joaquin Valley, for instance, faced greater challenges in transferring to four-year universities compared to those in coastal areas, mainly due to the physical distance from transfer institutions (Nuñez Martinez, 2024).

Other factors that shape rural Latinx students’ college choice pathways include the composition and context of their communities and the institutions they choose. Rural Latina college students who came from predominantly Latinx communities in Texas were heavily impacted by the whiteness of their college campus, with many students appreciating their racial/ethnic backgrounds after immersing themselves in white academic spaces for the first time (Stone & Serrata, 2023). Additional research investigating the college transition of rural Latinx students to a public four-year research-intensive university in an urban area found that students felt disconnected from their urban campus and white and urban Latinx peers because of experiences with racial exclusion and stark differences in academic preparation, socioeconomic status, and rural versus urban ways of life and academic and personal priorities (Rios Arroyo, 2025).

One study that did consider the nonlinear paths, agency, and future success of rural Latinx students is López de la Cruz’s (2021) qualitative study on the college pushout of four first-generation Chicana students from California’s San Joaquin Valley. The scholar found that negative professor interactions and financial obligations contributed to the pushout of students from their bachelor’s degree programs. Still, all four students planned to return to higher education to complete their degrees, highlighting the nonlinear paths of rural Chicanas and the importance of conducting research at multiple spaces of the college choice process, given students’ changing plans and priorities. This article builds on the literature cited by analyzing the factors that led to rural Latinx students’ nonlinear college choice pathways from a multi-layered, complex, asset-based perspective, and a qualitative longitudinal research approach.

Conceptual Framework

To understand the factors that led rural Latinx college students to pursue nonlinear college pathways, this study applied the college-conocimiento framework, an interdisciplinary model designed to capture the complex and context-specific realities of Latinx students in higher education (Acevedo-Gil, 2017). Building on Perna’s (2006) multi-layered college choice model and Anzaldúa’s (2002) theory of conocimiento, the framework situates Latinx students’ college decisions within systems of oppression while also emphasizing their agency. It identifies seven nonlinear and potentially overlapping stages students may navigate on their educational journeys: (a) el arrebato—deciding to attend college; (b) nepantla—searching for college information; (c) coatlicue—anticipating college obstacles; (d) el compromiso—planning for and applying to college; (e) coyolxauhqui—choosing a college; (f) a clash of realities—experiencing conflicts with college life; and (g) spiritual activism—engaging in self-advocacy and peer support. Rather than depicting college choice as a linear process, this framework conceptualizes it as nonlinear and “serpentine,” mirroring the intersectional identities and shifting priorities of Latinx students (Acevedo-Gil, 2017, p. 833).

Research applying this framework demonstrates how Latinx students often revisit multiple stages rather than progressing in a fixed order. For example, Latinx high school students’ aspirations for a bachelor’s degree were frequently “cooled out” by educators who steered them toward vocational or transfer pathways, leading students to repeatedly return to earlier stages, such as information searching and planning (Acevedo, 2020). Similarly, Latinx community college students described feelings of uncertainty when deviating from expected four-year university routes, prompting them to navigate several stages simultaneously (Murillo & Takagi, 2024). Rural Latinx students also made college choices based on personal and immediate needs during the COVID-19 pandemic, demonstrating their agency in selecting paths that aligned with their life circumstances—even if those choices involved structural or spatial disadvantages or what might be labeled as “undermatch” (Puente, 2022a). This article drew on the college-conocimiento framework to analyze rural Latinx students’ college choice processes as dynamic, recursive, and shaped by both structural constraints and self-determined priorities.

Methods

The qualitative data for this article were derived from a larger convergent mixed methods research study in which 16 rural Latinx high school seniors from California’s San Joaquin Valley agricultural region were recruited to discuss and map their college applications, choices, and (in)opportunities (Puente, 2022b). Given the large Latinx K-12 and college student population in California and in the San Joaquin Valley, and the Valley’s agricultural-based economy, eligible students were required to identify as Latinx, have at least one migrant farm worker parent or guardian, and have applied to at least one college during the 2020 to 2021 academic year. Explicitly focusing on the college choice pathways of rural Latinx students from migrant farm worker backgrounds also served to challenge the higher education literature that homogenizes Latinx students and fails to include information, context, and analysis about the role of students’ geographic and socioeconomic identities and backgrounds in their college choice processes.

Upon completing the mixed methods study in 2022, the first author, who shares the same racial/ethnic identities and San Joaquin Valley upbringing as the students, remained connected with the rural Latinx youth, with many continuing to share updates about their lives with her over the years. The first author formally reconnected with the 16 rural Latinx students during the 2023 to 2024 academic year, leading to a longitudinal analysis of these students’ higher education experiences and trajectories. Of the 16 students, four demonstrated nonlinear college choice pathways. This article underscores the importance of these four students’ collegiate experiences, given the overwhelmingly linear and sequential nature of leading college choice models and the lack of research on nonlinear college paths for rural Latinx students.

The four students include Finn, Miguel, Eddie, and Polo. The four students are first-generation college students who chose to attend a higher education institution in California’s San Joaquin Valley. Finn is a Mexican Salvadorian American woman who reverse transferred from a public four-year research-intensive university to the local community college in her hometown, where she was currently studying during the 2023 to 2024 academic year Miguel is a Mexican American man who took multiple leaves of absence from a public four-year university. At the time of the study, he took a break from his undergraduate education but planned to return the following fall, in the 2024 semester. Eddie is a Mexican American man whose higher education plans changed from wanting to enter directly into a public four-year university to enrolling in the local community college with the intent to transfer, and ultimately deciding not to transfer, instead completing his associate’s degree. Polo is an undocumented Mexican man who stopped-out of the local community college during his second year. At the time of the study, he was taking a break from his undergraduate studies. He planned to return to the local community college and eventually transfer to a regional public four-year university to earn his bachelor’s degree. This article aims to learn from the individual experiences of these four rural Latinx students and understand the factors that led to their nonlinear college paths.

Data Collection

The four rural Latinx students participated in four pláticas between 2021 and 2024, each lasting between 60 and 120 min. Pláticas translate to conversations and have been conceptualized as a Chicana/Latina feminist qualitative methodology by Fierros and Bernal (2016), who outlined five guiding principles of this methodology, including (a) drawing upon Chicana/Latina feminist theory, (b) honoring participants as co-constructors of knowledge, (c) making connections between everyday lived experiences and the research inquiry, (d) providing a potential space for healing, and (e) relying on relations of reciprocity, vulnerability, and researcher reflexivity.

This article drew on data from two of the four pláticas conducted with students: one in 2021, after students had made their college choices and plans, and one in 2024, when students were expected to be third-year undergraduates—if they had followed traditional college choice pathways. In the 2021 plática, students and the first author discussed their college choices and majors, anticipated college obstacles, and future career plans. In the 2024 plática, students and the first author discussed their experiences with their chosen institutions, majors, and future career plans, comparing these new insights to their plans from their senior year of high school.

Importantly, pláticas differ from traditional qualitative research methods like interviews because, in addition to the researcher’s interests, the topics that matter to research collaborators are also centered, given the two-way and unstructured nature of plática methodology and the principle of honoring research collaborators’ knowledge and contributions to research and meaning making processes (Fierros & Bernal, 2016).

Data Analysis

The eight plática transcripts were analyzed using Merriam and Tisdell’s (2016) step-by-step qualitative data analysis process, including open coding, analytical coding, category construction, and becoming more theoretical. First, the 2021 plática transcripts were read. Notes in the margins of the transcripts using the comment feature in Google Docs were recorded related to students’ college choices and reasons for those choices, which included choosing such institutions because of trusted advice from teachers, counselors, and peers, major and career aspirations, affordability, and proximity to home. The 2024 plática transcripts were then read, and notes were similarly made in the margins to understand how those initial choices changed over time. The three authors compared the two sets of notes, seeing that students’ initial decisions during their senior year of high school were no longer relevant to their current realities and priorities 4 years later as young adults. Lastly, the authors applied the college-conocimiento framework (Acevedo-Gil, 2017) in the final construction of themes to identify the reasons rural Latinx students pursued nonlinear college choice pathways from an asset-based lens.

Findings

Four findings highlighted the most significant reasons that led the four rural Latinx students to take nonlinear college choice paths, including decisions to reverse transfer, take multiple leaves of absence, change degree objectives, or temporarily stop-out of college. The findings are (a) experiencing institutional misalignment; (b) discovering new passions; (c) navigating financial responsibilities, and (d) prioritizing familial relationships. The first two findings regarding academics underscore systemic inequities at the K-12 level, especially in rural areas, which continue to impact rural Latinx students’ identities and experiences in higher education. The third finding, related to finances, underscores systemic issues affecting rural Latinx students, including poverty and work. The fourth finding stresses a mismatch between institutional cultures and those of Latinx communities, particularly the close-knit cultures of rural Latinx communities. Collectively, the findings demonstrate the various academic, economic, and cultural factors that intersected to impact rural Latinx students’ pursuit of higher education; however, their nonlinear paths are still evidence of their commitment to their education, degrees, careers, and futures.

Experiencing Institutional Misalignment

The four rural Latinx students heavily depended on their teachers and counselors for college-related advice, as school officials tend to be some of the few individuals with higher education experiences and degrees that students have immediate and frequent access to in rural communities. However, this advice often conflicted with the institutions and paths that students truly wanted to pursue, leading to institutional misalignment. For instance, Finn, who was tracked into an advanced college prep pathway, reverse transferred from a public four-year research-intensive university to her hometown’s local community college. Finn explained why she had initially chosen to enroll in a four-year institution and why she had now “backtracked a little”:

Throughout high school, all they promote—yes, they would be like, ‘Well, [the local community college is] here, too. A two-year’s just as good as a four-year,’ but I don’t know. . . just hearing how teachers are passionate about their university and their four-year experience is kind of like, ‘Four-year or nothing’ in my head. So, it was an internal battle that I had to have with myself.

Finn’s reverse transfer pathway was shaped by her placement in advanced courses, where she received (in)direct messaging from her teachers about post-high school plans, which mainly included attending a four-year university. Given her strong academic profile, Finn’s teachers presumably wanted to expose her to the possibilities of pursuing higher education at a more rigorous institution outside of her community. Still, her teachers’ emphasis on attending four-year universities led her to experience an “internal battle,” where she struggled to separate her teachers’ expectations and desires from her personal and academic needs, in which beginning at a two-year college was her preferred choice at the time.

Like Finn, Polo’s college choices were influenced by the academic culture of his high school, in which “college was the big-time thing. You know, the pinnacle of life that you have to go to, like, that’s the top.” Polo primarily relied on guidance from a friend who was planning to enroll in a public, four-year, research-intensive university out of state. As a high school senior, attending this out-of-state university with his friend was Polo’s original goal, likely due to the close-knit relationships within rural communities, where many students have attended school with the same group of peers. In conducting a follow-up plática with Polo years later, he reflected on those initial senior year college plans and his new outlook:

I think the reason I really wanted to go to Oregon in the first place was just to finally experience being out of state. I think that’s why I wanted to go; I was tired of just being in California. . . I think that was just a phase (laughs).

Polo’s plans shifted from wanting to enroll in an out-of-state university to enrolling in the local community college. He described his decision to attend a two-year institution instead:

It’s a really good option cause if you were to go to a four-year, just a full-on four-year university, you’re still getting the same benefit, you’re still gonna transfer to the university you want to and still graduate the same as anybody else, and you’re doing it for cheaper, and it’s just a really good option. I feel like a lot of people downplay community colleges because it’s a community college, but then they still get you to where you want to be.

Like Finn’s description of the immense pressure she felt to attend a four-year university, Polo alluded to the “downplaying” of community colleges by others in his high school and community. The downplaying is likely associated with educators’ desires for “more” for their students; however, it also has the potential to shame students for their community college choices because such institutions are not typically associated with academic rigor. In the follow-up plática, Polo defends community colleges, labeling them “good options” that provide students like himself with a quality education at an affordable price.

Eddie was another student whose college choice path deviated multiple times, primarily due to the advice he received from educators. Toward the beginning of his high school senior year, he shared that his dream institution was a California State University (CSU) campus, as he had learned about it from his eighth-grade English teacher, again highlighting the critical role of trusted educators and their college-related advice for rural Latinx students. He applied to this university and three others within the same public higher education system with aspirations of obtaining a bachelor’s degree during the college application cycle. At this time, he also applied to the local community college, initially framing it as a “backup.” Upon deciding where to attend college toward the end of his senior year, Eddie ultimately enrolled in the local two-year college despite being admitted to all four-year institutions because “it’s way cheaper and cheaper to transfer to another college.”

As a first-year student at his local community college, Eddie searched for degrees that were “transferrable” and pursued an associate degree for transfer because “that was kind of [his] plan, to just transfer out.” Yet, along his community college path, Eddie made the decision not to transfer, explaining the following in the follow-up plática:

Some people just want to go to a four-year and have the best time of their lives. Some people just want to go to college and actually work hard and do what they want to do. But I think I made a good decision; just going to [the local community college] and just getting my AA, and finishing it off right there.

Eddie’s decision not to transfer was primarily shaped by his interpretation of four-year institutions as places that potentially had more distractions that would prolong his ability to enter the workforce. The associate’s degree and skills he acquired from the local community college were enough to help him begin his career in his rural community, making transferring and obtaining a bachelor’s degree irrelevant to his now work-focused goals. While attending the local community college and not transferring was “a good decision” for Eddie, he also reflected that he “didn’t really know” about other nearby community colleges because of the significant emphasis placed on attending the local two-year college and wished he could have had “better counselors [that] could help [him]” learn about other affordable and nearby two-year institutions that offered degrees and certificates more aligned with his interests. Eddie’s educational experience and needs add another layer to the rural Latinx college path narrative. Just as various four-year types and institutions are promoted, students also desire information on the different types of programs and resources available at various community colleges.

Discovering New Passions

As the rural Latinx students navigated their initial college choice pathways, they encountered new majors and career options that differed from their original senior year high school plans. These initial plans were shaped by the curriculum, coursework, and academic opportunities available in their small schools and rural communities. This process of self-discovery often led to changes in their educational trajectories, such as switching majors and even institutions. For example, by the end of her second year, Finn realized that she was unsatisfied with her major and college choice:

I was a psychology major. That’s what I wanted to do. But after that spring, I was kind of in a place where I didn’t know what to do anymore, but I’d already dedicated so much time to this psych pathway that I kind of felt stuck, like, ‘Oh, I have to stick with it.’ I realize now that wasn’t a good mentality to be in, like, ‘You have the opportunity to switch.’ So that’s what I did.

Finn invested significant time and effort into the psychology major at the public four-year research-intensive institution, which created a sense of obligation to “stick with it.” However, towards the end of her second year at the university, Finn realized her passion for the field of education through an extracurricular activity, which was not a major available at her current institution. This led Finn to reverse transfer to her hometown’s local community college and pursue an associate’s degree in elementary teacher education:

Coming back, I looked at their majors and saw that [the community college] had a whole department dedicated to education. I was like, “Whoa. Dang!” It must have been a sign or something, and at that point, I was like, ‘Okay, I know what I want. I want this.’

Upon reverse transferring and discovering the community college’s education program, Finn experienced a sense of clarity and excitement about her new educational and professional path. Like Finn, Polo came to realize that he was pursuing the wrong degree:

I feel like the reason I went into [Administration of Justice] in the beginning was because I was already taking that pathway in high school, so I was more informed on it. I was more knowledgeable on that topic already, so I was just being logical. . . So, I wasn’t really thinking about like, ‘Oh, is this something I want to do?’ It was more of like, ‘Oh, I know more about it, so let me take it. It wasn’t like, ‘Oh, I wanna do it.’

As a high school senior, Polo faced a tension between choosing a familiar path versus pursuing genuine academic interests. Having already gained knowledge about the field of administration of justice in high school through a college and career pathway he participated in, Polo felt more informed and confident in choosing this same path in college. Polo’s experience highlights limited coursework and curriculum issues in rural Latinx high schools and communities, which can define and shape students’ futures. As Polo progressed through his community college education and temporarily stopped-out, he reflected that administration of justice was not his true passion and was more interested in a career in business:

I’d say the time that I had off from going to [the local community college], I finally feel like I found that I would wanna be my own boss. I wouldn’t want to be the one being told what to do. I want to be the one telling people what to do and be my own boss; that’s what I’ve found out.

After stopping-out of the local community college, Polo discovered his actual aspiration was to be his “own boss” and have a business where he could own a clothing brand specializing in Mexican Western wear, influenced by his rural Latinx identity and upbringing. This entrepreneurial spirit and desire to promote and celebrate his roots and make his parents proud as “the first to have [his] own business” was facilitated by his nonlinear college choice path that allowed him the time and space to reflect on his academic, personal, and professional passions, with plans of returning to higher education to pursue a bachelor’s degree in business.

Like Polo, Eddie discovered that his career aspiration of being a firefighter did not align with following a traditional college path, in which obtaining a bachelor’s degree is typically the end goal for most students:

My degree [in administration of justice] is not really what I’m focusing on. To be honest, I just did it to have an associate’s on something because my career is to be a full-time firefighter, and for a full-time firefighter, you don’t really need a degree.

Although Eddie completed a transferable degree in administration of justice and had intentions of obtaining a bachelor’s degree at a CSU campus, he acknowledged that the original plan he developed for himself as an eighth grader, which carried on into his early senior year, was not central to his current aspirations of becoming a firefighter. In determining what college path and degree was best for him to achieve this goal, Eddie heeded the advice of a community member who visited one of his community college classes as a guest speaker:

What made me do [the associate’s degree] is when I talked to one of the [fire department] chiefs, and he told me that, ‘We may not require it, but if you want to be promoted in the department, it’ll look better to have an AA,’ so that’s why I did it to just be able to be promoted and be one that outstands more than the others.

Eddie’s decision to complete his associate’s degree program was influenced by a conversation with the local fire department chief, highlighting the importance of professional community members connecting with rural Latinx youth and sharing college and career advice. He chose to persist and complete a degree that was not necessarily related to fire science or technology, as the chief had increased Eddie’s awareness of the potential value of completing an associate’s degree, which would provide him with future job promotions. Eddie also sought to improve his skillset and become a competitive candidate for the local fire department by pursuing certification as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), underscoring that for rural Latinx students like Eddie, practical experience and qualifications outweighed the need to follow a traditional linear pathway of transferring and completing a bachelor’s degree.

Navigating Financial Responsibilities

As the rural Latinx students transitioned into higher education, many wondered whether they had made the right financial decision when selecting and enrolling in their respective institutions. Their financial burdens as students from migrant farm worker backgrounds began to multiply in these higher education settings. For example, Finn described her growing financial struggles during her first 2 years at the four-year university she eventually chose to leave:

That was the only school offering me a full ride; I was like, ‘Well, I’d be kinda silly not to go to that school.’ So, the first year, it was a full ride. . . But it wasn’t until our second year I received significantly less financial aid from them. . . That year, I had to pay like 10 to 15,000, so I was like, ‘I don’t really know where I’m gonna get the money?’

Initially, the promise of a full financial ride for the first year reassured Finn that she had made the right college choice, even suggesting that it would have been illogical for her not to enroll in that institution. However, Finn’s second year differed, and it was much costlier to attend, leading to her decision to leave the university:

I had to take out loans, so that was kind of like my last resort because my parents can only chip in so much. . . I didn’t realize how expensive [the university] would be. So, at that point, I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. They weren’t giving me any extensions; they were on the cusp of dropping me from all my classes. . . I had no choice but to take out the loan. . . and I think by my second year, I was like, ‘Girl, why am I putting myself through this amount of debt?’

The high cost of attending the four-year university and the significant burden it placed on her and her parents served as a “reality check” for Finn, leading her to reevaluate her initial college choice and resulting in her reverse transfer to her hometown’s local community college. Once enrolled at this two-year institution, her financial circumstances improved since tuition and fees were more affordable, her financial aid increased, and her total costs of attendance were reduced by living at home and being back in her rural community. She stated, “I don’t need to work. They cover everything. . . It got to the point where they were giving me refunds. . . and I would joke around like, ‘It feels like they’re paying me to go to school.’”

Other students in the study also referenced laboring in agricultural fields as a means of earning additional income to support themselves and their families, as picking fruits and vegetables was a readily available job in their geographic area. For instance, Polo, who was undocumented and could not rely on federal student aid, and “since [he] can’t get a job in the U.S.” because of his immigration status, had “to work in the fields.” Polo decided to stop-out of community college temporarily due to these financial challenges, explaining:

Once I get all my financial problems like—not sorted out, but just good—I’ll be able to focus. I’ll actually be able to put my mind and everything into college and not have to be worrying about, ‘Oh, when is the next rent due? Oh, I need this much by the end of the week.’ I don’t have to be worrying about all that. I don’t wanna worry while going to college; that’s just gonna stress me out even more.

In the plática, Polo expressed a tension between balancing financial responsibilities such as rent and weekly expenses while being a full-time college student with its own expenses. The financial burden that Polo experienced created a constant state of worrying about his financial obligations, which often took priority over his academic responsibilities. This led Polo to stop attending community college to reach a point of financial stability that would allow him the mental and emotional space to concentrate on college without additional financial stressors.

Miguel was another student who realized how expensive higher education and related young adult expenses were, wishing that he had “saved” all his money for moments like these. Like Finn, Miguel relied on assistance from his parents to help pay for rent that federal student aid did not fully cover. Given the high cost of living in the city where his university was located, Miguel decided to temporarily stop-out of higher education and work full-time to save enough money for future rent payments and other expenses upon returning to the four-year university:

Right now, I’m working. I work at Jack in the Box in [my hometown]. . . So, I’m saving up just so we can make a down payment for an apartment. . . but right now, I’m working; I’m not focusing on school right now. I’m only focusing on work, obviously, for the down payment, and I’m going back to the [university] this August. I didn’t even know if I could take a break. I had to still call the admissions office and let them know about personal stuff. I didn’t even know I could take a break.

Miguel took multiple leaves of absence from the four-year university throughout his first three undergraduate years. One of the reasons was his need to focus on working full-time to save for a down payment on an apartment in an urban area. Miguel also expressed that the process of taking a break from college was unclear to him and that there was limited guidance and institutional support on this matter. Despite shifting away from a linear college trajectory in pursuit of a bachelor’s degree, Miguel planned to return to the university once his financial situation improved. This was particularly evident in the multiple times he emphasized that he was only prioritizing work “right now.”

Prioritizing Familial Relationships

As the rural Latinx students followed their original college choice plans, many compared the significant emphasis placed on college during their senior year of high school, as the “pinnacle of life,” as Polo described, to what really mattered in life, especially in the moments in which they made decisions to pursue nonlinear college choice paths. For instance, Finn reverse transferred because she “[needed] to rearrange [her] priorities” during her second year, explaining further:

I am no longer going to [the public four-year research-intensive university] because I’ve had some family stuff kinda happen the last two years. I had two kind of separate family things that were a little too big for me to process that affected me, so I’m not going there.

Later in the plática, Finn revealed that one of those “big” events was the passing of her cousin, which made it “really hard” to continue advancing in her college trajectory because she was in “a weird spot” and that this experience was a culminating event in which things “kind of exploded” for her, realizing her need to depart the university. Finn also recognized the importance of being with her family during this difficult time, stating, “I kind of was like, ‘Well, I currently need to be with my parents again’; I feel like I have to stay with them,” demonstrating how Finn prioritized this significant life event and her and her family’s mental and emotional state over college, which is “always an option” because she can “always come back.”

In addition to this devastating life event, Finn described wanting to support her brothers in navigating their educational journeys by leaving her institution and moving back home:

I feel like in my head, I was kind of like, ‘Well, the oldest is about to be a junior,’ and I feel like your junior year is kind of like, ‘Okay, you gotta kind of buckle down,’ so I felt like, ‘How am I supposed to help them? If I’m way over there?’ So, it was kind of like, ‘Well, I feel like I should go home.’

As a first-generation college student, Finn understood the importance of the final 2 years of high school, in which students need to “buckle down” and commit to their academics, especially if they are interested in attending research-intensive universities like Finn’s first college choice. Having experienced the complexities of the college choice process and being the oldest sibling, Finn deemed it vital to “help” her brothers, noting that being in person with them and guiding them through this process via a more hands-on approach would be much easier for all involved. Being in person and hands-on is indicative of rural communities’ close-knit culture and reduces potential telecommunication issues that are often limited and poor in rural areas.

Miguel similarly chose to take multiple “breaks” from a public four-year university because of significant familial life events that he felt were important to prioritize. One of his breaks was due to his niece’s quinceañera, a Latin American celebration of a girl’s 15th birthday that symbolizes her transition to young womanhood:

I came back home for Christmas break, and out of nowhere, both my niece and my older sister sat me down. They talked to me in private, alone, and they basically asked me to take this spring semester off because my niece—we’re Mexican—so she’s turning 15, so we’re having a quince, so they basically asked me, if it was okay if I take this semester off so I could be in the quince, and I agreed, so I just took a break this semester.

Miguel explained that in his Mexican culture and family, celebrating the 15th birthday of his niece was a significant milestone that necessitated his physical presence and support, especially because he was required “to learn dance moves” and routines. He continued to elaborate on his “need to take time off” to fulfill an active role in his niece’s quinceañera:

How am I supposed to learn three dances if I live in a different city and go to school and work? That’s why they sat me down cause it was a big decision for me to make.

As Miguel emphasized, taking a “break” from his undergraduate experience was “a big decision” that he and his family did not take lightly; however, it did not compare to his “love” for his niece and his strong desire to help her and participate in this huge milestone and core memory of her life, and to be surrounded with “500 of [his] family members.” Miguel expressed that he was “not disappointed” in his decision to take time off to prioritize his niece and this coming-of-age familial and cultural event, stressing, “I’d obviously choose family first.”

In addition to supporting and prioritizing their family members and nurturing such relationships, the households of the rural Latinx students changed as they progressed not only in their college journeys but also in their lives as young adults. Polo described his new living arrangements and additions to his family that contributed to his decision to temporarily stop-out of community college and consider his familial responsibilities and relationships:

Well, since right now I live with my girlfriend, I want to be settled first. I want to have our own place and our own car and everything. . . Once I’m out of here [his parents’ house], I live in my own place and everything; I’m just worrying about myself at that point. I won’t have anything else to worry about because I’m responsible for myself. . . that way, I know I’m able to provide for myself and my girlfriend. I wanna be in that position, and then I know for sure I’m able to go back to college.

As a high school senior, Polo was not in the committed relationship he now found himself in 4 years later, in which planning for the future and “future kids” was central to his life. This new version of his life and partnership required that he “be settled first,” such as moving out of his parent’s home, which he had also been financially contributing to throughout his high school and community college years, and making progress on having his own place, car, and other young adult necessities. Polo described his need to achieve these life milestones “first” for himself and his partner before returning to college and continuing with his associate’s degree.

Discussion and Implications

This study found that the college choices of rural Latinx students changed from their high school senior year to their early undergraduate and young adult years, emphasizing the importance of longitudinal research designs. Acevedo-Gil’s (2017) college-conocimiento framework served as a conceptual lens to understand these students’ nonlinear college choice pathways, which included reverse transferring from a public four-year research-intensive university to a local community college, taking multiple leaves of absence from a public four-year university, changing degree objectives from a bachelor’s to an associate’s degree, and temporarily stopping-out of community college. These paths, which deviate from traditional, sequential models of college choice, such as Hossler and Gallagher’s (1987) three-phase model, and economic models of choice, like Hoxby and Avery’s (2012) applications of academic undermatch theory and utility maximization models, highlight the inadequacy of these lenses and tools in documenting the complex college choices and trajectories of rural Latinx students.

Findings from this study indicate how “the inequitable distribution of K-12 resources” (Acevedo-Gil, 2017, p. 830) structures rural Latinx high school students’ college choice paths. Some examples of the inequities described by the students include limited access to diverse curricula and career exposure, influencing the academic pursuits of students like Finn, Eddie, and Polo, who pursued academic programs in college that they were already familiar with from their high school coursework and college and career pathways. This also highlights the issue of limited counselors in rural Latinx high schools who can provide college-related information and career guidance to students (Puente, 2022a). The lack of personalized college and career advice contributed to students’ institutional misalignment and nonlinear college choice pathways, which initially caused distress as they determined their true passions and purpose.

While Acevedo-Gil (2017) emphasized that Latinx students are often steered toward two-years and their bachelor’s aspirations cooled out (Acevedo, 2020), our study adds another layer of complexity to this narrative, finding that some rural Latinx students felt pressured to attend four-year institutions, similar to what Murillo and Takagi (2024) found about Latinx students’ apprehensions about choosing community college over a four-year. The pressure for rural Latinx students often came from the downplaying of the local community college by trusted school officials, who are often some of the only individuals first-generation rural Latinx youth have immediate and frequent access to. Although educators may be attempting to counter the negative consequences of living in an “education desert” (Hillman, 2016) and seeking to increase rural Latinx students’ exposure to institutions outside their communities, especially four-year institutions, this may suggest that there is only one right way to pursue higher education and be successful.

High school teachers and counselors must better support rural Latinx students’ college and major choices by helping them find paths that align with their individual goals rather than perpetuating a one-size-fits-all college choice and success model. Students benefit from learning about the educational trajectories of high school educators. Still, these paths must be supplemented by inviting others with different pathways—even nonlinear pathways—to provide rural Latinx students with college information and guidance. For instance, Eddie’s academic and career interests were positively influenced by his conversation with a local fire department chief, emphasizing the importance of relationship building and leveraging community members’ expertise and rural assets. High schools can invite alumni and community members to connect with students and develop partnerships with local and regional institutions. Students and agents from those campus partners can provide rural Latinx youth insight into their decision-making processes and college experiences. Once in higher education, counselors must set up recurring meetings and touchpoints with students to track their changing aspirations and life plans and provide them with resources to support such changes.

Moreover, our study showed that as students entered college, they faced additional challenges related to their new college student identities and their emerging young adult responsibilities. They made significant life decisions, such as changing degree objectives, switching institutions, or pausing their education to address immediate familial or financial needs. Our findings align with Cox’s (2016) and Solórzano et al.’s (2013) research, showing that financial constraints impact the educational journeys of low-income Students of Color. This article demonstrates the importance of increasing financial aid, grants, and scholarships, especially for rural, working-class, first-generation, and undocumented students, and the role of higher education institutions in connecting students with paid and relevant internships and jobs to help supplement federal aid and ease their transition into high-cost cities and young adult financial independence and stability. At the high school level, school officials can support rural Latinx students with financial literacy, especially in understanding financial aid packages and identify inequitable institutional practices of front-loading financial aid, where financial assistance, as in Finn’s experience, often does not extend beyond the first year.

Furthermore, the shifts in direction of Latinx students are part of their growing autonomy as they learn what works best for them and what aligns with their short-term and long-term goals. Rather than viewing interruptions, like switching majors or institutions or temporarily stopping-out, through a deficit lens, it is essential to recognize these moments as part of a broader personal and professional journey of self-discovery. Scholars and institutions should destigmatize nonlinear college experiences, nurture constant and ongoing self-exploration (i.e., switching majors, career aspirations, and institutions), and emphasize student agency in the college choice process (Acevedo-Gil, 2017). Embracing change and self-discovery should be an integral and positive part of the college experience, which can be emphasized in emerging nonlinear college choice models and addressed practically in higher education. Institutions should offer personal and professional development workshops, increase mental health services, and provide proactive and routine academic and career services and counseling that connect students with relevant resources.

Lastly, our study highlighted how rural Latinx students’ idea of college as “the pinnacle of life” shifted. Their nonlinear paths reflect a conscious decision to balance their immediate needs and those of their families with their academic and career aspirations. This research aligns with Freeman’s (2017) findings about the critical role of family for rural Latinx college students. It also shows that traditional white academic standards like linear four-year graduation timelines (Garcia, 2019) or factors like institutional prestige and selectivity (Freeman, 2017) may not always be central to rural Latinx students’ college choice paths. For the students in this study, college was always seen as something they could return to; however, other matters, like establishing independence, securing financial stability, and tending to family matters, required more urgent attention. Importantly, the various interruptions, breaks, and detours did not detract from their goals of completing their education, as similarly documented by López de la Cruz’s (2021) study on rural Chicana college student pushouts. In this sense, rural Latinx students’ decision to temporarily decenter college from their lives was not a “clash” but an intentional choice, reflecting a deeper understanding of what mattered most in their lives at that moment.

This study revealed that multiple factors contributed to the nonlinear college choice paths of rural Latinx students, with each factor assuming varying levels of importance for each student at different points in their lives. Thus, the findings highlighted here reflect a moment during one follow-up plática. As students’ college choice plans changed during their senior year of high school, the plans documented here may also change. Students’ plans may constantly be in flux, requiring ongoing support from multiple institutions and agents. Nonetheless, this article contributes to a growing body of higher education literature (Acevedo-Gil, 2017; Iloh, 2018), advocating for and researching the college choice process with particular attention to nuance, context, and intersectionality, especially for institutionally marginalized college student groups.