The last twelve years have seen the steady introduction of destructive market forces into our higher education system, culminating today with the demand by some for the cap on tuition fees to be removed so that different institutions can charge different fees.

We should be in no doubt - this means the wealthiest and most socially exclusive institutions will get more, and the rest will suffer. The first generation of students to be charged top-up fees will graduate this summer, saddled with debt and entering the worst labour market in decades. If university vice-chancellors get their way, then tomorrow's students will pay between £4,000 and £20,000 in fees for each year in which they study.

Meanwhile, the independent review of top up fees will begin imminently. The newly reshuffled Government must now listen to the voice of those who use and now pay for higher education - students - and ensure that the review of fees and funding will consider more equitable and sustainable alternatives to top-up fees. The forthcoming review must not simply ask the question of ‘the cap: how high?' but should find a lasting solution to enable those who want to access higher education to do so without penalising them by generating bad debts for them and the country.

We have been challenged to propose a better solution to the market logic of variable fees. The NUS Funding Our Future blueprint does just that. Our proposals would end the very notion of a course fee or price, shut the door on a market in fees and end tuition debt. We propose that graduates contribute to the future costs of higher education according to their actual future earnings, so that those who benefit the most from university by earning more will contribute more in order to give future students access to higher education. We define this as a progressive approach. This graduate contribution would be paid into an independent fund - a People's Trust for higher education - which would be built up over time and eventually deliver considerable additional resources to the universities and students of the future.

By abolishing all up front fees for part-time students and establishing credit-related payment, our system would initiate a new era for non-traditional learning and continuing education through life, allowing individuals to move in and out of the higher education system without penalty.

We believe our proposals should be seen as proof that a viable alternative to top up fees could be found. We encourage those in power to use their imaginations to consider what a genuinely progressive higher education funding system might look like, and how it could be turned into a reality to ensure equity and sustainability for generations of students to come.

Wes Streeting, President, NUS

NUS will be hosting a fringe at Compass Conference on Saturday 13 June at 11.15am with Jon Cruddas MP entitled 'Generation debt - what should be done?' as the first top-up fee generation prepares to graduate from university this summer and the number of unemployed under-25 fast approaches 1 million. Join us to discuss progressive solutions to this mountaing crisis.