Efforts to keep higher education affordable for all students and to promote not only access, but success--all in a climate of dwindling state appropriations and lean budgets--made the past year one of reckoning for colleges. Total outstanding student-loan debt hit the $1-trillion mark as federal officials scrambled to ease the burden on borrowers, partly by requiring colleges to disclose more about students' cost of attendance and financial-aid awards. A campaign-season debate arose in Congress over a scheduled interest-rate increase on some student loans. And the national college-completion agenda prompted both attention to underrepresented students and scrutiny of graduation rates. Seeing students through to graduation remained a challenge for colleges. The author reports on how the national goals to increase the number of graduates bring attention to how colleges can better help students succeed.