ABSTRACT
More people and more kinds of people than ever before have access to higher education. The opening of tertiary education to “mature” students is significant because in so doing the academy provides access to the material prosperity and security necessary for people to thrive in the world. Clearly, a university degree, a higher education, is not the sole means to a prosperous and good life. However, in both “advanced” and “developing” countries, those who lack access are clearly disadvantaged. Higher education has thus become an essential feature of the national and even the global polity. Indeed, the on-going struggle for access to the academy is a powerful reminder that fundamental social and educational ideals have not yet been achieved.
