English is core to HE (higher education) globally, with both HE and English seen as pathways to success for students. Yet, access to English is unequal and colonial ideologies associate English with Anglophone settings. Much of the research on English in HE has focused on elite institutions and students, while the majority of the world's HE students remain comparatively under-researched. This paper reports on a mixed-methods study of TESOL in five linguistically and socioculturally diverse HE settings in Colombia, Mexico, Iraq, Thailand, and Vietnam. The aims were to explore the roles and perceptions of English, TESOL, and other languages in policy and practice, (including multilingualism and Global Englishes) and how these related to processes of dis/empowerment and de/colonialization of HE. We sought to uncover the extent to which TESOL and English allowed or restricted access to opportunities of empowerment for different groups of students on their way to and through HE, and how English intersected with a range of dimensions of potential marginalization or privilege, particularly socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and rurality. We present findings from students through a questionnaire (n = 1820) and interviews with students, teachers, and administrators at each of the sites (n = 150).