The watchdog for university access has given the green light to universities to increase tuition fees in England to £9,250.
Almost all universities have been approved to charge the higher fees from 2017-18 as the new upper limit.
But more than 30 have set this as a minimum - raising the prospect that the increase will also be applied to current students.
The admissions process for university entry for autumn 2017 has opened to applicants on Tuesday.
The Office for Fair Access (Offa) has published the agreements that show how much universities will be able charge these students in 2017-18 and how much universities will contribute to support disadvantaged students.
Universities will spend £834m on schemes to widen access to higher education, an increase of 10% on 2016-17.
This will include £171m on outreach projects such as summer schools and events to encourage applications and £408m on bursaries and fee waivers.
Oxford University, which last week reported the highest level of state school students for decades, will spend more than £13m on outreach and scholarships.
But the Offa agreements also show that the extra spending will come alongside higher tuition fees.
