A growing subset of the United States community college student population are students who are parents. Parenting students contend with dividing their time and attention between the demands of parenting responsibilities, other life tasks, while being a student -- forming an intricate web of external factors that create barriers to their persistence and success. Consequentially, community college student-parents' dropout rates are 20% higher than non-parenting students. The problem addressed in this study was how community college student-parents' perceptions of external barriers influenced their persistence and success. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore perceptions of external barriers that influence student-parents' persistence and success at a single community college in northern California. This study was situated within the conceptual framework of Time Poverty and Parenthood. Utilizing a qualitative phenomenological approach, via 1:1, password-protected Zoom teleconferencing, eight student-parents engaged in two, semi-structured, open-ended interviews. Interview transcripts were member checked and data were analyzed using NVivo software and manual thematic analysis. Ten themes, with six corresponding sub-themes were identified from the interview transcripts. Findings from this study indicated that student-parents' decision and motivation to enter and remain in college were centered around role modeling for their children, career-based advancement, and lifting themselves and their children out of poverty. The study findings further revealed that student-parents struggled with life balance, experienced personal hardships, insufficient time for academic tasks and adequate rest, and distractions to academic productivity. The results of this study emphasize that student-parents' lifestyles are inundated with diverse life challenges, and experiences with targeted campus supports and other resources can foster student-parents' academic engagement and momentum to persist to success. The study findings may advance greater awareness and understanding about student-parents' complex and challenging lifestyles among community college administrators, faculty, staff, and board members, to help inform decision-making processes for best and promising practices that support student-parents' persistence and 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.]