Students at Staffordshire University will pay between £7,490 and £8,890 a year for their courses from 2012.

Fees for a fast-track two-year degree course at the university will almost triple.

The university, which has campuses in Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent, finally announced its new fee structure yesterday.

Most other universities had already announced what level of fees they would be imposing.

Students will be charged different amounts depending on whether the degree is classroom-based, studio-based or a “nationally-leading” course.

The two-year fast track degree will end up costing a student almost £9,000.

The government is allowing universities to charge up to £9,000 per year for undergraduate courses, raising the cap from its current level of £3,290. Universities wanting to charge more than £6,000 have to undertake measures, such as offering bursaries, summer schools and outreach programmes, to encourage students from poorer backgrounds to apply.

It means Staffordshire University students could graduate with a debt of between £22,470 and £26,670.

Under the proposed fees structure, UK/EU students will pay £7,490 per year for classroom-based awards, £7,990 per year for lab, studio-based and resource-intensive awards and £8,490 per year for what is terms ‘nationally leading’ awards.

The university will charge £8,890 per year for its two-year fast-track degrees.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Michael Gunn said the proposed fees structure was ‘highly competitive’ and enabled the university to deliver a first class educational experience while continuing its investment in new facilities, resources and courses.

He said: “We have undertaken considerable work on our pricing and have consulted widely. This reflects the fact that everything we do is built around the needs and ambitions of our students.

“We are confident we can offer them an excellent deal with high employability prospects and that the income generated will enable us to deliver top-quality education to as many people as possible. It is also worth stressing that under the new fees arrangements, there is nothing to pay up front and students are not expected to begin to pay back the loan until they’re earning more than £21,000 a year.”