This qualitative study examined the lived experiences of African American college students living with hidden disabilities. Utilizing hope theory (Snyder et al., 1991) and loci-of-hope theory (Bernardo, 2010) the study aimed to explore hopeful factors that motivated participants to persist through college. The findings suggest that internal and external sources of hope (Bernardo, 2010), and pre-college education prepared participants to navigate successfully their college experiences and graduate with an undergraduate degree. Five themes emerged that were common to multiple participants' college achievement including: internal locus of hope contributes to college success, external locus of hope of family contributes to college success, external locus of hope of spirituality contributes to college success, external locus of hope of peers contributes to college success, and excellent K-12 college preparatory education contributes to college success. [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.]