Student protests grow in California

Angry students in the US state of California have stepped up their protests against the increasing costs of higher education amid arrests and intimidations.

Hundreds of California students have continued their demonstrations state-wide in protest to the recent raise in state university tuitions after local legislature rounded off an 'unadjusted' financial plan for the Golden State's cash-strapped educational system.

Students in San Francisco's iconic Berkley University rallied in protest to the decision around English department on Friday. Police arrested a number of the students and closed classes.

Students in their thousands also gathered in Los Angeles state university campus in Davis and demanded a balanced budget for the region's educational system. There have also been protests in other California counties including Santa Cruz where angry students stormed office buildings and remained on the campus over the past two days.

Police detained at least 50 students and a professor in LA alone where many of university lecturers have called off their classes.

The ongoing protests have been sparked by recent measures of the financially-hit California government which endorsed an imminent 32 percent hike in university fees, due to take effect in January 2010.

The increase means undergraduate students will now have to pay more than $10,000 annually -- triple the amount of fees students paid around ten years ago, Washington Post reported.

California is among nine other big US states to have experienced the worst effects of the 2007 economic recession.

A number of other US states are considering slashing education spending alongside other public cost cuts which threatens to spark nationwide protests.