The author describes the challenges of a four-year, open-admission institution where equality of access has not equaled equality of success for basic writers. While there is a good deal of scholarship on student departure by compositions and experts in student retention and persistence, some models of student departure and success offered by these scholars are inadequate; a more comprehensive approach that embraces the intellectual and social elements of student success is needed. This article argues that the field of basic writing must turn its critical gaze to issues surrounding the success, as well as access, of basic writers at four-year universities. (Contains 4 notes.)