Research has suggested that although there has been an increase in the percentage of students obtaining four-year degrees, there is still an achievement gap between minority students and their White counterparts (NCES, 2018). While higher education institutions are being held accountable for enrolled students' retention and graduation rates, close attention is also being directed toward the need to close the achievement gap between minority and first-generation students (Blumenstyk, 2015). African Americans struggle more when attending predominantly White institutions (PWIs). Researchers have found that some of the struggles experienced by African American students are due to microaggressions, exclusion, racial climate, compositional diversity, and a lack of faculty diversity (Dickens, 2018; McClain & Perry, 2017). If a student's sense of belonging in the college setting is strengthened and sustained, they have greater potential to persist in college (Amand et al., 2017; Knekta et al., 2020; Peck, 2017; Strayhorn, 2020). This study aimed to examine the conscious and lived experiences of first-generation African American female students' regarding how their sense of belonging may or may not support their ability to persist to graduation in the PWI college setting. It was found that family, community, and peers had the largest impact on African American female students' attainment of a sense of belonging and college persistence. [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.]