University should be free at the point of entry, with graduates contributing at a later date according to how much they have personally benefited, students have said.
The announcement came as hundreds of undergraduates from across England attended an event organised by the National Union of Students (NUS) outlining measures to make the fee system fairer to students, while still generating much-needed cash for the sector.
NUS President Wes Streeting said: "The current recession is a stark reminder that excessive levels of debt are unhealthy, both for individuals and the economy.
"We believe that higher education should be free at the point of use for all students, with graduates making a contribution according to how much they are benefiting financially from their own use of the system."
He also labelled the current system of student support as "shambolic", calling for an end to the variations in bursaries offered by different universities and a reorganising of financial support to reflect how much a student needed and not where they were studying.
Supporting the proposals, education secretary David Blunkett said: "Whilst it's clear that no government is going to pull the financial plug on the university sector by simply abolishing fees, it would at this time of global financial downturn be unacceptable to lift the cap and have a free-for-all across universities."
The call comes after research found that many vice-chancellors wanted to see tuition fees doubled to around ??6,500.
