Students at the university of Plymouth and the college of art will have to pay £9000 a year from 2012.

The fee levels have been approved by the Office for Fair Access.

UCP Marjon's proposed fees of £7753 per year were also sanctioned.

Many fear that the hike in fees will put prospective students off going on to further education but university of Plymouth bosses say they're investing over £8.5m in financial support for students - through a range of bursaries, scholarships and aid packages.

They say students would also be paying back less per month than they do under the current system and only once they're earning more than £21,000 a year.