Ed Miliband has unveiled a Labour election pledge to cut student tuition fees by a third by reducing pension tax relief for higher earners.
Under the party's plans, the cap on undergraduate fees would be reduced from £9,000 to £6,000 per year from September 2016.
Mr Miliband told an audience of students in Leeds that the current funding system was landing graduates with debts running into tens of thousands of pounds.
He said the coalition Government's student fees policy was "one of the most expensive broken promises in the history of British politics".
Labour's funding cut would be paid for by a reduction in pension tax relief for higher earners, Mr Miliband said.
The lifetime limit on the size of pension pots would be reduced from £1.25m to £1m, while maximum contributions to pension pots will be cut from £40,000 to £30,000.
Mr Miliband also said maintenance grants will be increased by £400 a year, saying that Labour is "determined" to help students with their living costs. This will apply to those with family incomes of up to £42,000.
In a bid to offset criticism the cut in fees would disproportionately benefit wealthier graduates, the interest rate on loans would rise by 1% to 4% for the highest earners.
Mr Miliband said: "The scourge of debt from tuition fees is not only holding back our young people, it is a burden on our country."
He added: "We're going to reduce the debt on university students. We're going to reduce the debt on taxpayers.
"From September of next year, the next Labour government will reduce tuition fees from £9,000 to £6,000. Meeting our obligations to the next generation.
"It will benefit those starting courses next year. It will benefit those already at university."
But Business Secretary Vince Cable told Sky News: "It's an absolutely terrible idea that will do great harm to universities.
"Its completely unnecessary because we have got a good system now where universities are properly funded, students who go there don't pay any cash, they pay back later in life in relation to their income.
"The only people who benefit from the Labour proposal will be future graduates on high incomes - the investment bankers of the future.
"It's a very, very retrograde, regressive step that will undermine higher education."
Conservative Universities Minister Greg Clark dismissed Labour's plan as "cobbled together" and warned it would cause "chaos".
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Gallery: Thousands Of Students Join March
Demonstrators chant slogans during a student rally in central London
The demonstration march was organised by the National Union of Students and was the first national student protest since a series of violent protests against tuition fees two years ago
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