The purpose of this study was to investigate first-time, full-time provisionally accepted Black male students and to achieve a clear understanding of their lived experiences to enhance campus-wide social network systems, student engagement, cognitive dissonance and self-efficacy to improve opportunities for academic success. This study is significant because it explores the gap in existing literature and research on the impact of Black male students’ precollege characteristics, experiences, and perceptions of their academic success and self-efficacy. Notable retention theorists Astin (1984), Bean (1985), and Tinto (1993) provided a great introduction of the issues affecting retention and the barriers impacting students’ desire to persist, but there is a gap in the research. These issues include, but are not limited to, lack of academic and social involvement, failure to adapt, and self-efficacy. Students’ admission type seems to be overlooked in the literature. To gain an in-depth understanding of the lived-experiences of first-time, full-time, provisionally accepted Black male students and to discover the essence of those experiences while providing a platform for implementing new policies, procedures, and, if necessary, pedagogy for state colleges and state universities and their social network systems within the University System of Georgia (USG), Georgia’s public colleges and universities, I conducted a phenomenological study. Eight participants were interviewed at four USG schools. Two were state colleges and two were state universities. Data was collected through in-depth interviews and focus groups addressing the three research questions related to this study: 1) What are the lived experiences of provisionally accepted, first-time, full-time, Black male students within their first academic year at state colleges and state universities in Georgia? 2) What are the common perceptions of provisionally accepted, first-time, full- time, Black male students that influence their academic success at state colleges and state universities within the University System of Georgia? 3) How do social network systems, student engagement, cognitive dissonance and self-efficacy affect first-time, full-time provisionally accepted, Black males’ academic success?