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@bq
When I went to university I left with 8-10k owing to the student loans people, 5k owing to the bank due to me funding my last year with cashback from the all night spar, 1000 on credit cards. That was with me working the summers. It all needed to be paid off, at massive interest rates in the case of the overdraft and credit cards, and with interest amounted to way more than 18k. And this was 12 years ago, when it was supposedly "free". If I'd been told I could get a degree for a mere 18k and I would not need to pay back until I earned 21k then I think I'd have taken that deal. Which leads me to the obvious conclusion that it's not 18k is it? It's a whole lot more because there is also student loans on top. What does 3 years of those currently amount to?
I don't think course fees will be 9k for everyone. Media courses and the like will either have to charge less or be closed, as I don't think anyone seriously believes they are worth anything. And I work vaguely in media. Good designers have design degrees, not media ones. Prestigious courses might be able to charge more but with research money they might not need to, so I wonder how universities might use this to spread the fee money around and have prestigious degrees subsidise the drama courses. Ex polys will also have to compete on price. Trad universities probably won't, so we'll be back to a 2 tier system. Which may be no bad thing. When my sister did nurse training it was on the job practical training, not a degree, and it was no less effective than the first of the 'degree nurses' a year later. We may find more vocational training and qualifications that replace the idea of 3 years study.
Incidentally, if you do earn enough and feel that your university education was a factor in your financial security then how about supporting your old uni's student hardship fund with a monthly donation?