USA: Million Student March shuts down UC Berkley campus

Hundreds of students marched through the University of California's Berkeley campus to demand free education, Thursday. The students who were joined by campaign group 'Nurses for Bernie Sanders.' Organisers are demanding tuition-free colleges, a cancellation of all student debt as well as a minimum $15 (€13.9) an hour wage for campus workers. The rally was one of many held on campuses across America under the name 'Million Student March.' David Turner, a Black Lives Matter activist, said "it's hard to have an educated population if the cost of higher education is soaring so high." Adding "people of colour are disproportionately affected by loans, in which the lower 25 percent of our income bracket holds 58 percent of all the student debt." The total of outstanding US student debt has doubled to $1.2tn (€1.11), according to a report by the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The issue has been taken on by some of the presidential candidates vying for the White House in 2016, namely Democrat Bernie Sanders who has pledged to make tuition free at public universities and colleges, as well as a cut to the interest rates on student loans.