<p>Utilizing ordered logit and moderating effect models, this study examines the impacts and underlying processes and mechanisms through which rubber plantations influence school education. The analysis is grounded in survey data collected from rubber farmers in Hainan Province and Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province. The findings reveal that an expansion of rubber plantations consistently fosters an increase in educational expenditure. However, the influence on school duration exhibits temporal variability; during market booms, the increase in rubber plantations does not increase educational attainment. Conversely, when the market enters a downturn, the effect of rubber acreage on the highest level of education attained becomes notably positive along with the wider implementation of the tuition-free programme for 9-year compulsory education in China, which is corroborated by evidence from younger individuals and explained by changes in the relationship between career expectation and rubber plantations as economic biological assets. Specifically, farmers with a strong inclination to expand their rubber plantations exhibit a weaker association between area expansion and years of schooling than do those with lesser intentions.</p>