When I went to university to do my degree it was practically free (republic of Ireland) I had to pay €800 per year registration fee (which I worked/saved for every summer) and that was it!! I was very lucky that my parents paid my accommodation fees(which included bill costs)! Approximately 4K per year. But I worked every weekend and lived off that money!
Then when I did my PGCE in the uk I paid approximately 3k but got it back throughout the year! I had worked all summer and saved 2.5k to live off and then used the 3k to pay rent and other costs (£62 per week)
I know I was lucky! But has it changed dramatically since or were ppl always taking out loans etc?? That was only 10years ago! NC’d!