Northern Ireland's economy minister has said she will not be increasing university tuition fees above the usual level of inflation.
Caoimhe Archibald said while she recognised the challenges facing universities, she did not wish to "push that additional pressure on to students".
It comes after the five universities and university colleges in Northern Ireland had called for tuition fees to rise by more than £1,000 a year.
The proposal, which was sent in a letter to Stormont's main parties, would have increased annual fees for students to £5,831.
The letter was signed by the heads of Queen's University Belfast, Ulster University and the Open University in Ireland, and supported by a separate letter from the principals of St Mary's University College and Stranmillis University College.
It said that "without urgent intervention" there was a risk of "undermining productivity and long-term economic recovery".
The institutions also said about a third of young people left Northern Ireland to study elsewhere "due to the continued Northern Ireland Executive policy on funding".
Higher education is the responsibility of the Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland's devolved government.
Archibald said the current funding model did not work.
The Sinn Féin minister said she had written to ministerial colleagues to ask for higher education institutions to be "prioritised for in-year funding to address the challenges this year".
"I want to work in partnership with our universities and students to find a sustainable way forward, and will work on a longer term solution as part of the three-year budget," she added.