Exactly. It is still a scam. Even worse if you're doing a degree that has little to no job prospects. For example, 'Why you should not do a PhD in History.' [0]
I do not blame the students of this year to dispute about paying for the university fees when they are going to either retake because their exams were cancelled (due to COVID) or the quality of the course was not good enough and is not worth it.
COVID just made it even glaringly obvious and worse.