Government 'should bring back polytechnics' says think tank While many universities also provide such qualifications, a different title would protect a distinctive role for higher vocational learning that was lost in 1992. There are currently six big further education colleges that could be eligible for polytechnic status, the paper says. The paper also proposes new policies to boost the numbers of disadvantaged students who study for degrees. Universities should get an extra £1,000 "student premium" for every poorer applicant taken. The money would mirror the "pupil premium" currently handed to English state schools for each poor pupil - those from households earning less than £16,000-a-year - on their books. The premium would go on to fund money extra support for these students and initiatives to encourage more to apply. Around 230,000 students currently studying at English universities would be eligible, and this would increase over time, the report says. It would initially cost the public purse £230 million, rising to over £460 million as the number of disadvantaged students at university double, it adds. Institutions should also copy Ivy League American universities like Harvard and Yale by offering lower entry grades to those from poorer backgrounds. The new "contextual" offers would take into account factors like the type of school an applicant has attended, its overall exam results and whether a student had been in care. Mr Thrift added: "Universities have a responsibility to expand opportunity by opening up higher education to those who have traditionally been excluded. We also believe that universities should ensure that those who will become the leaders of the future are educated in institutions that bring together a diversity of talents and perspectives. Universities in Britain should follow the best practice of the US Ivy League in recruiting students to craft diverse and representative intakes. A spokesman for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) said: "This is a useful contribution to the debate on how to maintain and improve the reputation of our world-class university sector. It includes much food for thought. However, the alternative undergraduate funding models that are discussed would cost more for families, taxpayers and graduates while doing nothing to improve the student experience.