The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate African American leaders' perceptions of the current issues impacting African American students' retention and persistence while enrolled at PWIs. The research questions that guided this study were: What are African American higher education administrators' perceptions of the main issues for African American college students attending PWIs?, What are African American higher education administrators' perceptions of the challenges of maintaining persistence and retention of African American students? and, What are African American higher education administrators' perceptions of the best practices to maintain persistence and retention of African American students? This study utilized the data collected from the self-reported responses of 20 African American leaders/administrators who are or who have worked at a PWI that opined on their perceptions of the current issues, gaps, and opportunities relating to African American students' persistence and retention rates at PWIs. Participants were gathered via the use of the researcher's social media platforms (Facebook and LinkedIn) by utilizing the link provided to get redirected to Survey Monkey to complete the questionnaire. Strayhorn's sense of belonging theory guided this study. The researcher used Braun and Clarks' six steps for thematic analysis to code and analyze the data imported from the Survey Monkey questionnaire. The results of this study suggest campus environment and sense of belonging, parental/familial involvement, diversity in staff, and resource availability are issues impacting African American student retention and persistence while enrolled at PWIs. [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.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]