This article develops a rationale for student success and describes a new student success project, Re-Imagining the First Year of College (RFY), now underway within the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU). RFY is a major three-year initiative involving 44 AASCU campuses to identify and test a series of programs, strategies, and tools that could increase retention rates and success for first-year college students. The initiative is applying what is known to increase student success, particularly among low income, first generation, and students of color. RFY seeks to inspire redesigned approaches that work effectively for all members of an increasingly diverse, multicultural, undergraduate student body, increasing overall student success rates while eliminating the achievement disparities that have plagued American higher education for decades. It is based on the belief that student success, especially for these at-risk students, can make a profound difference in the lives of students and their families, in the success of institutions, in the country's ability to compete in a global economy, and in nurturing a vibrant and inclusive democracy.