The extent to which the nature of the relationship between access and educational structure in Europe has changed recently is examined. The influence of two developments in higher education is emphasized: the relatively slower growth rates of enrollment and the spread of nontraditional forms of education. The trend toward universal access in higher education affects not only well-established mass structures but also systems in which not more than 15 to 20 percent of the age group attends postsecondary education. A "diffused" system is advocated in which there are blurred separations between its different levels and the teaching content of different institutions, with varying points of entry and exit. (LBH)