Little research has been done regarding the role of spirituality from the perceptive of self-identifying African-American emerging adult learners and how it contributes to their academic persistence, even though isolation, lack of peer support, and identity issues can decrease motivation of self-identifying African-American students. This study offered a contribution to the field of postsecondary and adult education by exploring the perceived role of spirituality in the academic persistence of self-identifying African-American emerging adult learners in higher education, and how it contributes to their holistic development. A basic qualitative study was employed utilizing individual semi-structured, in-depth interviews via Skype in order to gather data from participants. The researcher wished to understand, gain insight, and analyze the perspectives of self-identifying African-American adult learners between the ages of 18 and 25 who were first-time undergraduate students enrolled at a full-time status at a four-year degree awarding public institution of higher education in the state of North Carolina identifying with spirituality. Fifteen participants who met the criteria participated in the study, which included nine males and six females; nine participants attended a public Historically Black college or university, while six attended a public predominantly majority institution of higher education in North Carolina. Data were analyzed through hand coding and NVivo coding software in order to make sense out of the data collected from participants. Overall, the majority of participants identified spirituality as a positive influence on their motivation to persist within an institution of higher education and were able to pinpoint how spirituality affected their persistence. Based on the findings of this study, the participants' concept of spirituality may be described as the interior relationship between an individual's piety and a larger realized hope that creates a journey of meaning-making and finding purpose toward wholeness through various experiences. [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.]