Students from Wales will be able to claim up to £4,954 in grants and borrow the rest, wherever they study.
The announcement comes ahead of the publication of the Diamond report into higher education and student finance.
One senior academic has warned that Welsh universities could become "second rate" if they could not increase fees.
Education Secretary Kirsty Williams said: "This decision gives certainty for those who want to go to university for the academic year 2017/18, giving people the option to study where they choose, including in England where tuition fees are set to increase."
Currently, students from Wales pay the first £3,900 of their annual tuition fees, with the Welsh Government paying up to £5,100.
As well as the tuition fee grant and loans, Ms Williams announced a means-tested maintenance grant of up to £5,161.
She has argued that living costs are a bigger barrier than tuition fees to poorer students going to university.
The UK government linked its permission for higher fees at English universities to better teaching, with the new maximum of £9,250 possibly increasing by inflation in future years.
In August, Swansea University vice-chancellor Prof Richard Davies warned higher education in Wales risked becoming "second rate" if colleges could not increase their fees as in England.
Responding to Friday's announcement, he claimed there had not been "enough time for the Welsh Government to look at this properly since the announcement in England".
"I hope they find some way of allowing for inflation," he added.
The National Union of Students president Fflur Elin welcomed the news.
She said: "We want to ensure that students from all backgrounds can access high quality courses. The cost of the courses should not be a barrier."
Welsh Conservatives education spokesman, Darren Millar AM, said: "We welcome the move towards means-tested maintenance grants and the anchoring of tuition fee costs."

The man hid himself in the rear wheel compartment of the plane which landed at Heathrow Airport on Sunday. He was taken into police custody in London but later released without charge.
He had bruises and hypothermia from outside temperatures as low as -41C, Austrian media reported.
He survived because the plane flew at a low altitude to avoid stormy weather.
The man apparently got under a fence at Schwechat airport in Vienna and climbed into the undercarriage of the first plane he saw without knowing its destination.
The plane belonged to a sheikh from the United Arab Emirates and had been standing empty on the tarmac at Schwechat airport since Thursday.
It flew without passengers to Heathrow, where the Romanian was picked up by police and arrested for stowing away.
He could have been charged or fined or given a fixed penalty, the Metropolitan Police told the BBC. But he was cautioned and freed with no further action being taken, PA news agency reported.
The man could also have been handed to the UK Border Agency.
But it is understood that there is no immigration issue and that the agency will not seek to deport him, according to PA.
As Romania is part of the EU, the man is free to enter the UK.
A spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said the stowaway was "very lucky" to be alive.
"If they don't find the right part to stow away, they can be crushed when the undercarriage comes up," he said.
He added: "Because of the altitude and temperatures during the flight, there is a severe risk to them through exposure and lack of oxygen.
"If that doesn't kill them, then they could be unconscious when the aircraft descends, and that can mean that when the undercarriage opens again, they will fall out."
According to Austrian media reports, the man just wanted to get out of Vienna and look for work.
Romania is a member of the European Union, so Romanians can travel to the UK for holidays. However, controls on Romanians working in Britain remain in place.
Welsh university tuition fees will be pegged at £9,000 next year despite colleges in England being given the go-ahead to charge up to £9,250.
[NEXT_CONCEPT]
A 20-year-old Romanian man had a lucky escape after stowing away on a plane flying from Vienna to London.