Between 15 and 20 students marched to DePaul University President Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider's office Thursday night, then occupied the building, to express their objection to a proposed tuition hike for incoming freshmen and current students next year.
DePaul plans to raise tuition for current students by 2.2 percent next year, and will charge incoming freshmen 5 percent more to attend than the previous class, according to The Depaulia, the school's student newspaper. The increases will be put to a vote March 3, but protesters are asking the university to postpone the vote, and hold a public forum before finalizing their decision.
"Student debt is the largest debt bubble in the nation and we refuse to serve the interests of the 1% as we get buried under ever increasing fees," the group, called Occupy DePaul, wrote in a post on their Facebook page promoting the demonstration.
The DePaul demonstration was part of a National Day of Action for Education, according to a press release from the Coalition Against Corporate Higher Education (CACHE).
The students marched to the president's office around 3 p.m., and eventually met with Holtschneider for about a half-hour to discuss their concerns, ABC Chicago reports. A sit-in based in a nearby conference room lasted until about 9 p.m.