In the past few decades, increased use of federal student loans has created an enormous financial burden for many first-generation and low-income students who attend 4-year public postsecondary institutions to attain a degree. Reaching those educational goals for many undergraduate students and how they reach their goals has been at the heart of much debate. The use of federal student loans and grants are paramount for many first-generation and low-income students in their pursuit of all benefits that accompany a postsecondary degree. There had been and will continue to be considerable consequences for the accumulation of debt through the use of federal student loans for both first-generation and low-income students as well as overall growth in the national debt created by student loans. Many stakeholders in higher education continue to debate the increased use of student loans to finance student goals to attain a bachelor's degree. Along with an ever-growing national debt accumulation of student loan debt, the following questions arise: How effective is the use of federal student loans on the persistence of first-generation and low-income students in comparison to federal grants? What are the academic, social, and financial aid issues of first-generation and low-income students? This study examined the influence of federal student financial aid impacts college persistence of first-generation and low-income students, for the periods of 2007-2008 and 2015-2016. Through use of the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS) of 2007-2008 (Wei et al., 2009) and the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS) of 2015-2016 (Wine et al., 2018), the study analyzed effects of student loans versus Pell grants on persistence levels of first-generation and low-income college students. This dissertation is dedicated to Nancy Wasson Wayland who died June 13, 2023, in gratitude for her continuous support and belief in my dream of completing a doctoral degree. Nancy was a breast cancer survivor, MS Warrior, and self-published author. [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.]