Professor Nigel Seaton, of Abertay University in Dundee, said the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) project, which has been cut by £10 million under wider public spending reductions, had only had a limited impact since it started three years ago.
Universities were counting on the £10 million to enable an extra 1,800 places for disadvantaged pupils to be created in the next academic year but now they will be expected to expand numbers without that specific funding.
The first three years of the £30 million scheme has been credited with bringing 5,000 more students from poorer backgrounds to university.
As the higher education sector is under pressure to widen access further with limited overall places, qualified students from wealthier backgrounds could also miss out.
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