The research focused on the experiences of high-achieving African American college students in honors programs at Mid-Atlantic Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), a phenomenological study. There have been few studies on the experience of African American honors students at HBCUs; however, there is more research about this population at Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs). The researcher used a qualitative research design for this study to capture the essence and rich responses of the participants' experiences. The researcher used Phenomenological methods explained by Moustakas to research the various reactions to the same phenomenon. Fifteen African American enrolled honors students participated in this research to share their academic and social experiences of being in the honors program at the university. The proper data collection and analysis procedures were practiced ensuring the accuracy of the participant's responses. Eight themes that emerged from this study answered the four research questions such as: feelings of being an honors student, academic, social, and experiences, support, non-academic experiences, and perception of participants attending a non-HBCU. The themes proved to align with the theoretical framework of this study, The Model of Institutional Departure (Tinto) and The Model of Student Involvement (Astin), which experiences may affect the decision to remain or depart from an institution. The pure experiences of the participants are presented in this study. [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.]