Higher education is education acquired after completing courses in institutions offering secondary education such as high schools, and is acquired in universities and technical training institutes. Typically, completing higher education courses leads to a bachelor's degree or professional certifications. In the international convention on human rights, access to higher education has been considered a right and many nations have been urged to ensure that it is treated as such. In fact, many nations have attempted to make it available to everyone, even if they haven't completely succeeded. Depending on individual countries, there are various criteria for selecting those who will enter higher education institutions. Some of the students who join higher education institutions are bright students from poor families who have attended high school and the respective governments offer to support them. Another group of students are sponsored to undertake higher education. In other countries they are called parallel students while in others they are called self-sponsored students. For this group the student fee is normally paid by parents, guardians, non-governmental institutions or supporters. Although there are still many challenges regarding access to higher education, many nations practice quota system so that the number of government-sponsored students in each administration can attend higher education for their future. Education can lead to equality by pushing others to call it the universal equalizer, and it may be thought that since academic value depends on the individual's intellect, external factors are unlikely to influence his or her performance, which will instead determine the. .. paper ......ide Reforms. Washington DC: World Bank, 1998. Print.Law, Ian Debora Phillips and Turney Laura. eds. Institutional racism in higher education. New York: Trentham Books, 2004. Print.Lazin, Fred, N. Jayaram, and Matt Evans. Higher education and equal opportunities: transnational perspectives. Virginia: Lexington Books, 2012. Print.Pinheiro, Romulo, Paul Benneworth, and Allan Glen Jone. Universities and regional development: a critical assessment of tensions and contradictions. England: Routledge, 2012. Print.Topping, Keith J. “The Effectiveness of Peer Mentoring in Higher and Further Education: A Typology and Literature Review.” Higher Education 32.3 (2005): 321-345. Network. Nov. 28, 2013Ward, Nadia L. “Improving Equity and Access for Low-Income and Minority Youth in Higher Education.” Urban Education 41.1 (2006): 50-70. Network. December 17.2013