Rather than hurl an ill-considered and entirely ignorant comment when the facts are entirely unclear (as is the entirety of higher education in the UK currently), I was told by one of my lecturers that Cambridge currently runs at a considerable loss for every student it educates.

Even Cambridge will run out of money eventually (many poorer universities already are) - the system has to change dramatically. And the new system has to be pragmatic and functional, not hopelessly idealistic. I would envisage that means either increasing fees or reducing student numbers.

Perhaps in an ideal world education should be limitlessly free for all. But in the real world, we have exceeded that limit. Something will give - either universities will collapse or funding will change.