High school principals are seeing increasing numbers of their graduates go to college. Nearly three out of four new high school graduates are continuing on to postsecondary education within two years of leaving high school. However, too many of those students do not finish college. Although high schools have worked hard to increase the numbers of students who go to college, the challenge now is to determine what can be done to improve students' chances of success once they get there. To determine the academic factors that increase the probability of success for minority and low-income students, ACT, Inc. and the Education Trust studied 10 high schools during the 2003-2004 academic year. The high schools were chosen because they had significant populations of minority and low-income students who were successful on the ACT in English, mathematics, and science. Researchers found that the following factors were important to ACT performance: (1) rigorous college-oriented content; (2) well-qualified teachers; (3) flexible pedagogical styles; and (4) tutorial support. (Contains 1 figure.)