University College Dublin is to start encouraging Travellers and refugees to study at the college.
Candidates will be selected outside the CAO application process but will have to do an interview.
UCD director of communications Éilis O'Brien said the college needed to broaden its intake and it was also "striving to give people a fair chance of obtaining a third-level education" through its access programme.
Such access programmes aim to improve attendance rates from lower socio-economic areas and "non-traditional" groups.
Ms O'Brien said that with the introduction of modularisation of subjects, Travellers and other non-traditional students could "ease themselves into college by taking foundation modules if required".
UCD has set no limit on the number of Travellers or refugees who may apply, but refugee students will be required to have at least three years of education in Ireland.
All of the State's universities agreed in 2001 to improve access to disadvantaged groups.
Dublin City University has the largest number of access students, with more than 135 in 2004.
It has been accepting Travellers and refugees for the past eight years.
Trinity College Dublin's access programme has been in place for 10 years but it said the take-up had been low.
NUI Galway will enrol its first Traveller student and first refugee student in September.
The University of Limerick started its programme three years ago but said it could be another three years before it expected to see Traveller students.
Eileen Ward of the Northside Travellers' Support Group in Dublin said there was a long-held belief among Travellers that going to college was for settled children.