tuition fees

I received an email this week from the University of Nottingham where I did my degree. It informed me that after much deliberation, they have decided tuition fees will increase to the maximum £9000 per annum. £9000! I was outraged. Sure it's a good university and it's not like I could fail to have noticed the plans to increase fees or the lack of funding that's caused the hike but it only really hit home when I received that email. Suddenly I realised that it would have cost me just shy of £40,000 to do an arts degree for three years, where I had 6 hours contact time a week. As it is I'm likely to be paying of my measly debt of £12,000 for the foreseeable future. I loved going to university, I loved learning in an incredible institution and challenging my way of thinking, I had an amazing time and it does look good on my CV, but I'm not sure I would have gone if the cost had been that high. Who wants to start their adult life shackled to a debt larger than it's possible to pay off if you choose a career in the arts? Surely better just to learn on the job and work your way up, which is massively unfair for the next generation who come after me. No doubt the poorest students will receive help and there's no shortage of richer students for whom the fees are actually still much cheaper than their private school costs, but what about the squeezed middle class? What about people like me who have benefited from a university education but will no longer be able to afford to go?