I think this is likely to be part of a trend for courses that are perceived to lead to well paid jobs.
Simplistic economics might suggest that a recession is a dumb time to raise prices, but that ignores utility functions and agency effects.
People who run courses want to run 'good' course, where 'good' is a mix of quality of teaching and the calibre of the students who take it.
If your course is attractive, then it's easier to raise the quality of students than to make the course better. Also better students are usually easier to teach, often more interesting to teach as well.
However there is not real correlation between the quality of students and their ability to pay. There is also a *negative* correlation with their desire to pay. This comes about because the very best students often get offered attractive scholarships, and a % of my mail is from these people who have to choose between an MFE that costs more than their parents home and being paid to study something like maths or engineering.
So if you have a course that is over-subscribed there is a trade off between smart students and rich ones.
That ratio is affected by the level of fees, and my sense is that 'branded' schools could increase their fees by 30% without any fear of not filling the places, and the optimum in terms of simply getting the most money is much higher. An auction for places at some schools might lead to a doubling.
But at the limit that would get students of highly variable ability.
Also the 'capacity' of a course is typically the desired student /staff ratio. My call is that most MFE programs could add 50% to their cohort using existing buildings, some could easily double or triple. Since the marginal cost of a student is quite small, that's very tempting.
It's very tempting in a time when budgets are being cut hard.
The internal politics are more complex than anything taught on an MFE, but the business school will find that it can become both more powerful because it's cash that can be spent any way they choose, but under attack if they choose not to maximise revenue, but at the same time support the 'brand' of the university.
Some universities have in effect multiple MFEs in different schools, some finance courses are under the business school, sometimes in economics, and for places like the LSE much of the whole college is dedicated to producing people whose earnings are greatly enhanced by their education.
So I expect inflation to be dramatic and soon.