“You're Poor, so You're Not Going to Do Anything:” Socioeconomic Status and Capital Accumulation as a Means to Access Higher Education for Rural Youth☆

Abstract This qualitative phenomenological study sought to understand rural students' college‐going decisions through the lens of socioeconomic status, social capital, and Perna's nested model of college choice. The sample included 18 students who were undergraduates at a selective R1 university in the Southeastern United States. Rural first‐generation students reported that they received little practical advice from adults in their family, school, or community. Rural students' choice to take adult advice seemed to be dependent on their family's education background. Family connection was the most common reason for students to choose to attend a selective university if they were not a first‐generation college student. Distance to institution was not a major factor in the participant's decision to attend the university. The students in this study were highly influenced by the policy environment of the state in which they live; a state‐wide merit‐based scholarship provided all the students, regardless of first‐generation status, a motivation to attend what they considered to be the best public school in the state, while still receiving a significant discount on their tuition.