Jan 18, 2011

CU student pays tuition with 33 pounds of $1 bills

Nic Ramos wanted to send a poignant message about the rising cost of tuition at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

So, the 20-year-old economics major paid his $14,300 tuition entirely in $1 bills.

"It's over $14,000 in one-dollar-bills!"



Ramos packed the 33 pounds of cash into a big duffle and was ready when the CU business office opened last Friday morning.

The teller looked in the bag and said, "0h my gosh!" said Ramos. "And then all the other tellers came over and they couldn't believe it."

Amassing that much cash in the credit-card age was no easy task.

Ramos said he spent a couple days trooping from bank to bank withdrawing cash. Often banks could only provide $100 or $20 bills, so he had to go to still more banks for change.

"We have got every sort of reaction," he said, ranging from "That's the coolest thing I've ever heard" to "You're crazy."

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