It has been twenty-seven years since a small group of faculty at the Community College of Baltimore County, faced with the discovery that two-thirds of students placed in our upper-level basic writing course never passed first year composition, began the development of the Accelerated Learning Program (ALP), one of the earliest corequisite programs in the country. This article traces that development of the ALP model and identifies the features of ALP that have now resulted in 74% of our basic writers passing first year composition. In addition, after exploring the growing phenomenon of top-down mandates concerning basic writing, it provides guidance for departments engaged in selecting the best corequisite model for their context.