Leeds Metropolitan today became the first university to announce that it would charge less than the maximum £3,000 rate for top-up fees.
Breaking rank with the vast majority of universities, which have so far indicated they will charge the maximum £3,000 a year, Leeds Met - which has more than 41,000 students - said undergraduates would pay around £2,000.
Simon Lee, the vice-chancellor, said it was in keeping with the university's radical past - it started as a 19th-century mechanics' institute - and help to maintain its drive to widen access to higher education.
"As an institution we have the confidence to know that we can support widening participation as well as delivering the highest quality of courses and education for our students.
"At Leeds Met we believe in students' potential and know that in the right focused environment people can attain great results," said Professor Lee.
The university governors have given approval, subject to being able to secure funding to demolish substandard accommodation and purchase a city centre building.
Nimble Thompson, the chairman of the board, said: "We have a distinctive position made possible by our long-standing commitment to widening participation, our economies of scale and our vision.
"The board unanimously agreed that if the vice-chancellor and his senior colleagues can persuade the authorities on particular points then a lower fee in the region of £2,000 is our preferred offer for 2006.
"We are proud to be the first university to offer the lower fee and believe it reinforces everything that the university stands for - high quality education but at an affordable price."
The president of the Leeds Met students' union and member of the board of governors, Dave Hayes, gave Professor Lee his full backing, saying that his members were keen for the university to pursue a low fee option and prove that the concerns of a low fee being equated with low quality would be unfounded.
At the governors' meeting last night, Mr Hayes said the students' union believed education was a universal right and should be free.
"We are faced with a hard reality but continue to believe that students should have as few barriers as possible to education, and that the benefits of education can not just be measured in monetary terms.
"Leeds Met students were asked to voice their opinions on this debate through student senate and they felt that our university was not devaluing its degrees by charging less than £3,000.
"We believe that pricing people out of higher education would devalue our institution by not allowing such a diverse range of students to continue their education," he added.
In contrast, Luton University this week decided to charge £3,000 for its courses, with a "generous bursaries package" and probably £1,250 for foundation degrees.
