**1. Introduction**

From the last quarter of the twentieth century, the process of transition to a knowledge soci‐ ety has begun in the developed countries, and a new global economic structure called knowl‐ edge economy has been formed. In this new structure, the economic power, knowledge, and learning levels of the individuals and the competitiveness of the countries are often measured by the human and social capital [1]. This process has increased expectations from the universities responsible for the production and sharing of knowledge and has become a focus of attention for higher education societies in almost all countries. Hence, the demand for higher education has increased rapidly all over the world. According to the reports of international organizations such as the World Bank, United Nations Educational, Scientific

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and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD), the number of students receiving higher education in the world is increasing rapidly. In the last 20–25 years, the expansion and promotion of higher educa‐ tion have become political goals in both developed and developing countries. Numerical data also indicate that efforts to reach these goals have resulted in considerable success. Worldwide, the number of higher education students, which was 13 million in 1960 (0.43% of the world population), reached 82 million in 1995 (1.43% of the world population), and 137 million in 2005 (2.11% of the world population). This number exceeded 152.5 million in 2007 (2.27% of the world population). The number of students in higher education is dou‐ bling every 15 years on a global basis. It is predicted that this number will reach 200 million students in 2020 [1, 2].

Increased demand and enrolment rates in the higher education system do not indicate that all segments of society are equally able to benefit from higher education. In many countries, there is a huge difference between higher education participation rates of different social and cultural groups. Despite various projects and policies of governments, institutions and other political entities, there is still inequality in access to higher education in many countries [3–5]. The studies on higher education have revealed the existence of material and cultural inequali‐ ties and hierarchies. Researchers have explored the role of education in the production of dominant cultures and classes and its role in maintaining social and economic inequalities [6–11]. The inequality that exists in the beginning and continuing stages of higher education has been examined by many researchers starting from the 1960 s until today [3, 5, 12–21]. These studies mainly aim to reveal the effects of social stratification on higher education. The research results show that socioeconomic and sociocultural factors, especially the factors such as the income status, education level of the parents, and the living area, are determinants of the higher education attendance and continuation for young adults in many countries. The research results show that the difference between the entrance rates of individuals com‐ ing from different social classes is increasing gradually, and the problems arising from these social differences are getting deeper. Higher classes are even more represented in higher edu‐ cation than they have been in the past [22–24].

As in many countries, higher education access and the following processes are experienced similarly in Turkey. In this article, the problem of access, which is still faced in Turkey despite the rapid expansion of the system of higher education in recent years, is evaluated on the basis of social equality. In this respect, the problem of social inequality experienced during the process of access to higher education is described with a deeper viewpoint. With the theo‐ retical framework of social justice, the study focuses primarily on the general structure of the higher education system in Turkey and the current point reached by the expansion of higher education. The goal of this study is to show the effect of the determinants of higher educa‐ tion access. However, when access to higher education is considered, it is not be correct to regard the problem as only coming from the university. Because the right to have access to higher education requires a discussion beyond the problems arising from the supply‐demand imbalance, the benefiters of higher education and the effects of socioeconomic background characteristics on this process are examined.
