This document addresses the status of equality in access to higher education. Some of the motivating factors behind this presentation include: (1) College completion rates including rates of bachelor's degree completion are falling today, particularly among young Americans; (2) Reversing the current trend and increasing college completion has become an imperative at all levels of American government; (3) The possibility of limiting or redirecting federal need-based grant aid, which could prove counterproductive; and (4) The belief that America's 2020 goals cannot be met without increases in need-based grant aid from all sources. In this presentation, the Advisory Committee addresses the following questions: How Unequal is Access to College and Why?, How Unaffordable is College--And For Whom?, How are Access and Persistence Related?, What Implications Can Be Drawn For the Future?, and What are ACSFA Findings and Recommendations? The analyses uses data from five National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reports: (1) The National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988; (2) The Education Longitudinal Study of 2002; (3) The Beginning Postsecondary Students; (4) The National Postsecondary Student Aid Study; and (5) The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data Systems.