If the poor get saddled with £27k of debt and half of them will never be able to pay it off so it will written off, then it doesn't sound like a very good plan for "doing over the poor"
Also the figures showing the increase of students from poor backgrounds applying for university would indicated that the system isn't keeping the poor out either.
What would you rather, tax payers pay for university, even if they do not attend? People who go to university should pay, not those who do not. I don't want ASDA shelf stackers paying extra tax so I could go to university and earn more. Its either loans or extra graduate tax for me, and Iprefer loans because they offer more freedom.