"The numbers that trouble me the most are those that document how educational access has not translated into educational success," writes Bob Zemsky, a former member of the Spellings Commission, in The Chronicle of Higher Education. "While the percent of Americans with a college education has increased for all groups, the gap between minority and majority experiences has persisted largely unchanged. Given that a college degree is now the principal portal to middle-class status it is not acceptable that one's ethnicity, in particular, remains a tag predicting likely success at reaching that destination. The problem, however, is not one of access - or at least the kind of access that is achieved by the removing of barriers be they legal, cultural, psychological, or financial. Providing equal educational opportunity - what I have taken to calling 'access to success' - requires a different mind set and a willingness to invest public funds in programs other than federal student aid."