The phenomenological research study explores the lived experience of Black first-generation college students navigating the financial aid process to understand how they experience the process of using financial aid to pay for college through degree attainment. Higher education is aligned with social and occupational mobility. Financial aid has its roots in local philanthropy and has morphed into a nationwide governmental process influenced by politics. There are many factors impacting access to financial aid over the past decades, including calls for governmental divestiture from providing financial aid, laws that impact access for Black college students and first-generation college students, and the completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. In this study, I focus on seven college graduates who identified as Black and first-generation college students who completed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form. I identify Black college students as those who identify with African ancestry, native-born or immigrant, and the socially constructed race of Black; I identify first-generation students as those whose parents did not receive a college degree in the United States. I conducted the data analysis using van Kaam's modified method. The findings reveal that Black first-generation college students have a VIVID experience navigating the financial aid process. They visualize an outcome, identify knowledge gaps and support, vitalize their inner resolve through encouragement, gratitude, and determination, integrate diametrically opposing constraints into a solution, and dedicate themselves to a process to attain their college degree. Recommendations include increasing access to financial aid, increasing the availability of resources, focus on the use of strength-based advising, create financial advisement days, and develop financial planning courses. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]