The whole universtiy set up as it is at the moment is a sham, no doubt about that.
When my brother went to Uni he received a grant (of about £1'000 I believe), when I went 5 years later there was no more grant, you had to pay £1'000 a year, and in the final year it was moved up to almost £3'000 a year. With the ratio of students to tutors on my particular course, you were lucky if you got more than 1-2 hours one-2-one time to discuss projects a month, so something like 13 and a half hours per year - that'd work out at about £230 per hour, for a usually pretty unproductive meeting.
Apart from the one-2-ones, there wasn't really much else in way of facilities that I couldn't have sorted out much cheaper myself, so I wondered where the money was going. Even one of the tutors used to say that the fees were over inflated for what you actually received in tutoring time and available facilites.
Saying that, I do agree that the individual should pay a fee to go to University, but ultimately it should be a lot less than it currently is.
Some degrees though are a joke, and I don't necessarilly mean in the subject studied, but in the amount of time actaully spent studying. Many people I knew had to go in for only 1-2 hours a week in the first year, and in the second it wasn't much different. Coursework for these people was also minimal. A 2000 word essay and a 5 minute presentation to organise in a month, hardly strenuous - frankly you could work full time and complete the first two years of many degrees comfortably.
I also feel that people should be encouraged to work for a year before going to uni. Firstly, to help them decide if studying is really for them - and secondly, so they can build up some savings in order to help pay their way through the first year or two.
Personally I think many 'degrees' should be condensed into two years instead of three, it would serve students better in terms of learning and also help reduce debt levels - and there would still be plenty of time to go out and get pissed 4-5 times a week in the first year, so there'd be no loss there.
Or am I using my common sense too much?