Students across the country are fed up with rising tuition costs. In fact, according to a USA Today article, the frustration finally came to a head as students staged demonstrations, some of which resulted in encounters with the police.

This past Thursday, parents, students, teachers and school employees rallied together to march on college campuses, at government buildings and in public parks in order to express their anger. Referred to as the March 4 Day of Action to Defend Public Education, the protestors gathered together in an effort to express the importance of keeping tuition costs affordable. At many of the locations, however, emotions got out of control and demonstrations became physical in nature. Some of these include:

· In California, protestors were able to evade police and walk onto Interstate 880, which shut down the freeway in both directions for more than an hour and backed traffic up for miles. In the end, more than 150 people were arrested and one protestor suffered serious after jumping from the elevated freeway in an attempt to evade officers.
· At least 15 people were arrested at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee after protestors attempted to deliver a petition to the chancellor by forcibly entering an administrative building. When police turned the protestors away, some threw ice chunks and even attempted to hit the officers who were on guard.
· At the University if California, Davis, approximately 300 students attempted to block a freeway onramp located near to the campus. About 75 police officers, who ultimately responded with pepper spray in order to break the group up, were called to the scene. Only one female student was arrested.
· At the University of California, Santa Cruz, angry protestors blocked the campus gates and smashed the windows of a car while the driver was still inside. Although the driver was not injured, university officials advised students and employees to stay off of campus.
· A small group of protestors at the University of California, Berkeley formed a human chain and blocked the main gate to the campus. Hundreds of protestors later rallied together on a busy intersection an then marched to downtown Oakland.
· More than 200 instructors, professors and graduate faculty marched through campus at the University of Illinois carrying signs reading “Furlough Legislators.”
· A group of approximately 75 protestors staged a protest at the Capitol in Olympia, Washington. The group brought a faux coffin with the slogan “R.I.P. Education” written across it. They were ultimately removed from the state Senate gallery when they interrupted a debate with a protest song sung to the tune of “Amazing Grace.”
· Approximately 100 students and staff protested at the University of Texas at Austin in protest of a 5.4% increase in tuition and other fees was approved by the school the previous day. According to the protestors, the bottom line appeared to be more important to the university than the quality of education.
· At California State University, Northridge, a group of protestors sat in an intersection, which blocked off traffic in the area. Five students were arrested and cited with misdemeanors before being released.
· Hundreds of teachers, students, parents and school employees protested at the Capitol in Sacramento in an effort to urge lawmakers to provide additional funding to public schools.

According to experts, the protestors are not likely to see relief any time soon. As funding for K-12 schools, community colleges and universities has been slashed, many colleges have been forced to cancel classes, to furlough instructors and to increase tuition costs. With more financial problems anticipated over the next few years, experts do not see a change coming any time in the near future.