PRESS ASSOCIATION -- Education Secretary Mike Russell is "pretty sure" less than half of Scotland's universities will opt to charge the maximum fee of £9,000 a year to students from the rest of the UK.
He expects the average fee across Scotland's 16 institutions to be around £6,375. However, Mr Russell did not rule out setting a lower fee limit if universities do not show restraint.
He told BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland that 50 per cent of universities south of the border have opted to charge the highest level.
Mr Russell said: "I don't think that will happen in Scotland. In fact, I'm pretty sure it won't happen in Scotland." He said it was premature to make a prediction, with only five of Scotland's 16 universities declaring their fees to date.
Edinburgh and St Andrews universities set their fees at £9,000 a year, up to a maximum of £36,000 for a four-year course.
Heriot Watt and Aberdeen universities have also set their fees at £9,000, but capped them at a maximum of £27,000 overall. Glasgow Caledonian will charge £7,000 a year, capped at £21,000.
Mr Russell added: "Are the halcyon days of student life over? Well all I can tell you is that for 73 per cent of students at Scottish universities there will be no fees." He said there are about 9,000 international students, equal to around nine per cent, who will continue to pay fees as they always have done, alongside the 14 per cent from England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
He also confirmed that he was trying to solve the "anomaly" of the 10,000 EU students that are currently exempt from fees in Scotland under EU regulations.
Professor Nicholas Terry, acting principal of the University of Abertay, Dundee, later told the programme that his university would not be charging maximum fees. He said: "Following some final consultations with the students' association, we will be setting our fees very shortly. I can say that we will be setting those fees at levels significantly below that which have been announced at Edinburgh and St Andrews."
Prof Terry confirmed the fees would be closer to those set by newer universities established after 1992, such as Glasgow Caledonian University.