The purpose of this two-part qualitative study was to examine the factors associated with developmental education student persistence at a 2-year college. The population for this study included 63 students that were currently taking at least one developmental education course at a community college in Northern Kentucky. The initial data collection included a thorough document analysis of self-reflective essays that 52 students completed at the end of their developmental writing class. The second data set consisted of an 11 member focus group discussion that further explored the poignant themes that emerged from the document analysis. Based on both data sets, 5 overlapping categories and 18 emergent themes were identified on why some developmental education student can successfully persist to credit bearing classes. [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/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]