Our Mission Statement

To make access and success in higher education available to all.

Our Vision

A world where, in every country, more people from minority or from disadvantaged majority populations are able to benefit from participation in higher education.

About World Access to Higher Education Network

We are a brand new network, founded in May 2022, of organisations dedicated to raising global awareness of the inequalities in access to, and success within, higher education (HE). By collaborating with each other on a global basis we aim to tackle the root causes of these inequalities.

90%

of the countries throughout the world, where we have evidence, participation in higher education (HE) is unequal.

76

of the lowest income countries, the poorest people are 20 times less likely to complete a HE course than the richest.

23

countries of the OCD, a child’s chances of participating in tertiary education are twice as high if their parents are tertiary educated.

Join WAHEN today

Universities and higher education institutions, representative bodies, private sector organisations and other organisations who believe that access to higher education should be accessible to all, where ever they live, who have the potential to benefit from it. Please see some of our key benefits below:

  • Ensures opportunities are shared fairly
  • Has the potential to boost economic growth
  • Gives people a chance to transform their lives

Watch a video of WAHEN’s launch

WAHEN Founding Members

Universities and higher education institutions, representative bodies, private sector organisations and other organisations who believe that access to higher education should be accessible to all, where ever they live, who have the potential to benefit from it.

Latest WAHEN News

In its ninth annual publication,  U-Multirank showcases how universities deal with issues of social inequality in access to higher education and with enrolment of underrepresented groups of students. There are major achievements as well as major differences in attracting underrepresented students with non-academic family background (‘first generation students’). Younger universities with a strong focus on undergraduate education attract […]

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9 June 2022, 10 am – 11:30 am CEST This webinar will launch a new initiative by UNESCO-UNEVOC to bring together digital skills and competence frameworks in a new online portal. Across the world over recent years, governments, international organizations and the private sector have been developing frameworks for digital competence which support citizens, policy-makers […]

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The University of Edinburgh has become the very first member of WAHEN, the new global network for equity and success in higher education. Speaking directly from the launch of WAHEN at the UNESCO World Higher Education Conference in Barcelona Professor Graeme Atherton said: “The University of Edinburgh has long believed that everyone deserves an equal opportunity […]

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