This qualitative descriptive design study aimed to understand how males of color in a mentoring program described how natural mentoring relationships support their social-emotional, cognitive, and identity development during the transition from high school to college in a southern state. The researcher used Hagler's (2018) Process Model of Natural Mentoring as the theoretical foundation. Research questions for this study include: How do males of color describe how natural mentoring relationships supported their social-emotional development from high school to college? How do males of color describe how natural mentoring relationships supported their cognitive development during the transition from High school to college? How do males of color describe how natural mentoring relationships supported their identity development from high school to college? The researcher used a purposive sampling method to recruit 11 male students of color, interviewing ten (10) males of color for the individual semi-structured interviews and ten (10) males of color for the follow-up focus group interviews. The researcher analyzed the data using thematic analysis to generate codes, categories, and five prevailing themes to answer each research question. The outcomes of this study confirmed the importance of developing males of color in their social, emotional, cognitive, and identity competencies through natural mentor relationships to help them successfully transition from high school to college. However, mentoring programs should continue to develop their post-secondary support for males of color, as they struggle to finish their college degree due to financial barriers and a lack of long-term support systems. [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://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]