Increased student access to higher education institutions has been associated with the recent proliferation of higher education opportunities throughout the world. Various countries have undertaken numerous initiatives to increase access, such as the Netherlands with its involvement in the Bologna Process and the United States with Achieve Inc.'s American Diploma Project and state-funded merit scholarships. In addition, some countries (e.g., South Africa and Ukraine) have promulgated legislation and policy documents aimed at enhancing and improving access and the transition of students from secondary schooling to higher education. The preamble to the 1998 UNESCO World Conference in Higher Education included calls for greater access. This paper focuses on how transitions within and between education systems affect access to higher education in four countries: the Netherlands, South Africa, Ukraine, and the United States. These four countries provide a diverse palette for demonstrating how issues surrounding access to higher education vary around the world. The United States and the Netherlands have well-established, progressive higher education systems, while Ukraine and South Africa are in transition as a result of recent political changes. Diversity, wealth, and primary/secondary education vary among the countries as well. The paper explores three main themes: (1) the rationale for increasing access to higher education; (2) developments and pressures on the transition process from secondary to higher education; and (3) current policies that affect access to higher education and recommended solutions to increase access. Access is a twofold concept. The first aspect is access "with participation," which means ensuring that students are granted entrance and acceptance at a higher education institution. (Contains 4 figures and 70 footnotes.)