The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how first-generation Latino and African American Pell grant recipients, who attended a large urban community college located in New York City, described their understanding of and experiences with satisfactory academic progress (SAP) policy and its influence on academic persistence when financial aid eligibility is at risk. Three research questions were used to guide this research: RQ1- How do first-generation Latino and African American community college students describe their understanding of SAP and financial aid eligibility?, RQ2- How do first-generation Latino and African American community college students describe their understanding of SAP and academic persistence?, and RQ3- How do first-generation Latino and African American community college students describe their experiences with SAP and financial aid?. The theoretical foundations underpinning this study were Tinto's Theory of Student Integration and Milem and Berger's Model of College Student Persistence. This study utilized four sources of data, which consisted of an online survey, one-on-one interviews, archival data, and researcher field notes. The researcher used Bengtsson's four main stages of content analysis to examine and organize the data collected in this study. The findings of this study demonstrated a lack of awareness/understanding of the SAP policy its impact on first-generation low-income Latino and African American college students' ability to persist with their college education when financial aid eligibility is at risk. [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://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]