Historical change in occupational and educational status projections of Texas rural Mexican American teenage boys and girls between 1967 and 1973 were examined. The study determined the nature and extent of historical change patterns occurring among these youth in reference to the following dimensions of occupational and educational status projections: aspiration level and intensity; expectation level and certainty; and occurrence of anticipatory goal deflection. Two sets of comparable data, collected in the Spring of 1967 and 1973, were analyzed. The 4 South Texas counties (Dimmit, Maverick, Starr, and Zapata) used were located in rural nonmetropolitan areas and had high frequencies of family poverty and proportionately high concentrations of Mexican Americans. Identical questionnaires were administered to 341 Mexican American high school sophomores in 1967 and 379 in 1973. Since the youths' status projections could be influenced by the patterns of historical change in their communities, schools, and families, the degree of historical change in these social contexts was also evaluated. Findings indicated that Mexican American teenagers in the nonmetropolitan areas of South Texas had not experienced much change between 1967 and 1973 but had maintained a relatively high level of mobility aspirations and expectations and a strong intensity of desire for achieved status goals. (NQ)