This current dissertation used case study (Yin, 2018) to examine United States female college students' perceptions of their financial literacy, especially with respect to their debt accumulation and the gender wage gap, at a public, 4-year institution in New Jersey. It answered the following research questions: How are student debt, financial literacy, and the gender wage gap experienced and/or perceived by the participants? How do indebted female college seniors at a public, 4-year New Jersey institution make financial decisions? The study relied upon Yin's framework (Yin, 2018). It employed purposive and snowball sampling to recruit participants (n=14) (Lune & Berg, 2017), Charmaz's intensive interviewing to interview participants using a semi-structured interview (Charmaz, 2014), and Braun and Clarke's thematic analysis to analyze the data (Braun & Clarke, 2014). Results were analyzed using NVivo qualitative software. It was found that participants were determined to earn their bachelor's degrees despite the many obstacles they endured. There were five subthemes: 1) Degree Attainment: Not if, but how? 2) Need for increased financial literacy; 3) Making the Most of the Investment in College 4) Gender wage gap: Current and future experience; and 5) Pandemic: Negatives and Positives. [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.]