UNIVERSITIES will be able to offer two-year degrees with higher tuition fees under new plans.
Students taking shorter courses would pay more per year than they would for a three or four-year degree, but would save a year's worth of money for housing and living costs.
They would pay around the same fees in total as their peers taking longer courses.
Proposals have been met with caution, with leading universities saying that while they welcomed the British government's commitment to ensuring fast-track degrees were properly financed, careful consideration was needed so that the courses did not affect student learning or the undergraduate experience.
Thousands of Northern Ireland students are working towards degrees in institutions in England. About 16,000 - one in four - students from the north are enrolled at universities in Britain.
Their annual fees remain higher than those who study at home - £9,000 compared to just under £4,000. Economy minister Simon Hamilton has been considering options on higher education funding in the north - including one that could see a three-year degree costing £27,000.
Shorter degree courses have been mooted in the past, but universities have had little incentive to do so if they are going to receive less in fees than they do for standard programmes.
Under the latest proposals, fees for these degrees, which have yet to be confirmed and would need Westminster's approval, could be as much as £13,500 a year.
