Bright teenagers from poor backgrounds are to be given a chance to study in the United States, a charity announced on Monday.
Disadvantaged young people will have the opportunity to experience studying for a degree with Yale University after a new summer school programme was launched by The Sutton Trust.
The initiative, a new version of the summer schools already run by the Trust in the UK, is expected to help 64 students in the first year, with priority given to those from homes with an income of less than £40,000 a year.
The summer school, which is being run in partnership with the Fulbright Commission, is recruiting up to April 16, and is expected to be held in July.
It comes at a time when increasing numbers of young people are applying to study in the US, In 2010/11, nearly 9,000 UK students applied, with Harvard University alone seeing a 45% increase in applications between 2009/10 and 2010/11.
But the majority of applications come from private schools, the Sutton Trust said, with the numbers of students from poor backgrounds applying still low.
Sutton Trust chairman Sir Peter Lampl said: "Studying at a US university is an appealing prospect to many UK state school students.
"The breadth of the four-year degree and the chance to experience another culture will make for an intellectually stimulating and fun time.
"With tuition fees increasing dramatically in England, and some generous financial aid packages in the US, it is also more attractive than before from a cost perspective.
"If successful, we intend to establish many more US summer schools next year and beyond - opening a pipeline for UK students to reap the benefits of higher education at leading US universities."
The Sutton Trust's UK summer schools programme now runs at seven leading universities, reaching more than 1,000 students. Three- quarters of those who take part end up at a leading selective university, the Trust said.