Differences in access to higher education are a well-known contributor to socioeconomic inequalities. Yet, despite considerable interest from policymakers, we know little about the processes linking geographic proximity to academic opportunity. Here we investigate how distance to higher education institutions (HEI) shapes students' academic aspirations. Proximity to HEIs has the potential to reduce the social, financial, and emotional costs of attending university while increasing students' academic exposure. Using Swedish register data, we analyze how 9th-grade students' choice between academic and vocational upper-secondary tracks varies with their distance to the nearest HEI. We find that proximity to HEIs is associated with higher likelihood to choose an academic track, mostly within the 25 km around an HEI, and that students from low-educated backgrounds are slightly more affected by distance compared to students from high-educated backgrounds.