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SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5 / KCBS / AP / BCN) ― Most classes were canceled Wednesday at San Francisco State University's Business Building due to a student occupation that continued late into the night, a university spokeswoman said.

About 20 or 30 students entered the building sometime before 5 a.m. and have refused to leave. They remained there around 10 p.m. and more than a dozen protesters were outside the building, university spokeswoman Ellen Griffin said.

The university canceled classes in the building Wednesday and Griffin said Wednesday night it is not clear how the occupation will affect university operations Thursday. The university is advising students to check its Web site for updates.

On Wednesday, professors who are normally in the Business Building were available to meet with students at the Towers Conference Center from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. More than 3,200 students and 49 faculty members were affected by the occupation, Griffin said.

Griffin said university officials haven't been able to speak directly with any demonstrators inside the building. Protesters have remained peaceful and Griffin said there was no immediate plan to force demonstrators out of the building.

"We're monitoring on a regular basis and we'll make decisions as circumstances dictate," she said.

With less than a week to go before finals, protesters said they didn't want to let the semester go by without making some kind of statement on the recent higher education fee increases brought on by California's state budget problems.

Protesters said that paying $2,300 to $2,400 in fees next semester would price many working-class students out of a college education.

San Francisco State officials said they planned to meet with the protesters at some point to hear their concerns.

Students at University of California at Berkeley have been holding their own gathering at Wheeler Hall this week.

UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof said Wednesday about 40 or 50 students on Monday declared Wheeler Hall the site of an "open university" and have been holding study groups and music and dance performances there since then.

The gatherings have generally been in the evenings when classes are not in session, and some students have slept in the building overnight.

Wheeler Hall, which houses various humanities departments, is usually closed overnight, but Mogulof said "a decision was made to give them a room or two."

No arrests have been made and no citations have been issued, Mogulof said.

The "open university" will be allowed to continue until Friday, since finals start on Saturday, Mogulof said.

Wheeler Hall was the site of a Nov. 25 protest in which more than 40 people were arrested after occupying the building and barricading themselves inside. The demonstrators were cited for misdemeanor trespassing and then released.

Kim Geron, vice president of the California Faculty Association, said in a statement Wednesday that the actions of the students at SFSU and UC Berkeley "are symptomatic of a whole generation of college students in California who feel betrayed by their leaders."

"These students no doubt feel a sense of desperation as their educations and their futures are slipping away. The persistent budget cuts, fee hikes and elimination of courses have made graduating from college harder than ever," she said.

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