In the May/June issue of "Change", US Undersecretary of Education Martha J. Kanter described President Barack Obama's plan for recapturing the position of the best-educated country in the world by 2020. She spelled out the formula for meeting the President's ambitious goal: increasing postsecondary access, improving the quality of a college education, and accelerating college completion. The University of Texas at Brownsville, established just 20 years ago, has been on a mission to achieve these very objectives. Having followed that formula with the collaboration of city leaders, school districts, university partners, and savvy businessmen and women, the university is now poised to transform its region. The authors discuss how to transform a region by providing access and helping students achieve success in higher education that goes beyond the benefit to any single graduate or family.