Sir Martin Harris, ex-Vice Chancellor of Manchester and of Essex, is appointed as the first Director of the Office for Fair Access (OFFA). The Higher Education Act 2004 creates (s31) "the Director of Fair Access to Higher Education" and then requires (s24) higher education institutions (HEIs) to agree "approved plans" with OFFA before they can charge undergraduate tuition fees to UK/EU citizens that exceed "the basic amount" (currently 1150 British pounds) and that can range up to 3000 British pounds per annum from 2006/2007 ("the higher amount"). The Act in ss33-37 and 39 gives power for the Secretary of State for Education and Skills to make Regulations concerning such "plans". In this article, the author examines whether the regulations implemented by OFFA can potentially threaten HEI autonomy. He also discusses how an HEI that follows OFFA access plan "may" become open to challenge under the Human Rights Act from other applicants who would assert that their admissions policy/process is illegally discriminatory.