African American (AA) males face significant challenges in persisting academically and completing college degrees, leading to a widening achievement gap between them and other minority and non-minority groups. Despite efforts to improve low academic persistence rates, AA males continue to underperform compared to their African American female counterparts and other groups in undergraduate degree programs. The graduation rates for AA males at higher education institutions remain less than 40%, and the decline in their college degree attainment can be attributed to various factors such as lack of mentoring, insufficient student support services, inadequate academic preparation, societal expectations that are low or non-existent for their success, and socio-economic factors including high incarceration and homicide rates among AA males aged 18-35. The widening achievement gap limits opportunities for AA males in both education and the workforce, thus posing a significant problem for the United States. This dissertation aims to identify the factors hindering academic persistence and college degree attainment among AA males in higher education and effective strategies that facilitate their academic success.