The purpose of this qualitative study is to examine how being Black and undocumented shape the educational experiences of undocumented college students. By centering the educational experiences of undocumented Black college students, this dissertation adds to the limited scholarship on undocumented Black college students. Intersectionality theory was used as a theoretical framework to understand both the joys and challenges of four undocumented Black college students experience as they navigated higher education. The findings suggested that undocumented Black college students experienced challenges in two ways: (a) Institutional Challenges, which resulted in them being invisiblized as undocumented Black students (b) Identity-Related Challenges, which pointed to the idea of being stamped as not belonging because they are undocumented and Black. Finally, undocumented Black college students also shared how they used joy to sustain themselves as they navigated higher education which resulted in life-giving moments. This dissertation argued that the experiences of undocumented Black students must be considered in higher education because their identity is being erased and their needs are due to higher education institutions not being aware of their existence.
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