Utah College Student Luq Mughal Pays Semester Tuition In $1 Bills

A University of Utah student organized his own, costly protest over increased tuition rates at the school.

Luq Mughal paid his tuition bill on Tuesday with 2,000 $1 bills, reports the Salt Lake Tribune. The 21-year-old, who is studying electrical engineering, told the newspaper that students are continually feeling the effects of rising tuition costs.

"By no means am I the saddest story on campus," he said. "There’s a lot of people here just as bad and probably worse. The people making the prices are not actually aware of how hard it is on the students."

Mughal held the cash in a metal case as he waiting in line with several other students to pay their tuition bills at the University of Utah's Student Services Building. The 2,000 $1 bills were collected from numerous banks. Over the past decade, the Tribune reports that in-state tuition at the university has more than doubled. Mughal hopes that more students will be interested in joining him next year in another cash-only protest of the tuition hikes.

Mughal's efforts are similar to other students frustrated with rising college costs. In 2012, Devin DeFraine paid his $3,000 tuition in rolled-up dimes and nickels after Canada's Mount Royal University added a new fee to students' semester charges, MSN reports. But perhaps University of Colorado, Boulder, student Nic Ramos's way of paying his full spring semester tuition of $14,309.51 is even more intriguing: He used dollar bills, a 50-cent piece and a penny.