Significant changes in higher education funding, the applications process, course structures and student-loan repayments are among the recommendations in the select committee's access report.
Yet, while many of the 37 conclusions and recommendations in the report are hard-hitting, the report will also be remembered for the bitter divisions it has created between the Labour majority and its Conservative and Liberal Democrat members.
For universities, the single most radical recommendation is a substantial hike in the cash they should receive for successfully recruiting and retaining students from the poorest backgrounds.
The report recommends immediate consideration of an increase in the 5 per cent premium on the standard funding per student to 20 per cent, with a view to raising it to 50 per cent in the future.
An increase to 20 per cent would cost £5 million on top of the £24 million already allocated by the funding council for widening participation: a 50 per cent premium would cost £12 million more. At present, universities receive a premium of between £70 and £210 per student above standard funding.
The money should continue for each year the student is registered, although there should be some front-loading to compensate institutions for extra costs incurred in teaching students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The committee has also thrown its weight behind the post-qualifications applications system. This would allow school-leavers to make more informed choices about where and what to study and so may help to reduce drop-out rates.
The report is critical of universities that have rejected the proposed qualifications tariff system. Tariffs would allow quantitative comparison among different academic and vocational qualifications. But many universities say that they will continue to assess applicants on merit.
The report also calls on the Department for Education and Employment to review modularisation and the possibility of longer degree courses with a view to providing more flexible modes of study. The reasoning is that students, particularly mature students, would find such flexible forms of study more appealing.