I learned women actually don’t have the same access to higher education as men.

You’re right - women have significantly better access to higher education than men, and have demonstrably better education outcomes as a result.

For example, women are significantly more likely to receive scholarships and grants than men in undergrad.

Partially as a result of this lack of access, men have dropped to almost 40% of undergrad students, while women make up nearly 60%. Women also receive more doctorates than men, and almost twice as many Master’s degrees as men.

I’m not trying to minimize the bigotry that you observed (or faced), but it’s objectively false to claim that women have worse access to higher education than men.