This article debates access and success at the University of South Africa (UNISA). UNISA is an open distance learning (ODL) institution that provides higher education opportunities to working adults who would otherwise not have the opportunity to acquire a higher education qualification at full-time contact institutions. The article sketches the challenges and prospects of ODL. It teases out the challenges of ODL articulation, learner support, recognition of prior learning, and poor throughput rate. Substantively though, the article argues a case for well managed ODL programs to provide access to quality higher education to previously marginalised individuals and to enable developing countries such as South Africa to make a meaningful contribution to the global economy through knowledgeable citizenry and workforce.