Skip to main content

Student pays parking fine with 14,000 pennies in protest at university

Stephen Coyle has attracted attention online after his anger at university funding caused him to count out the pennies

Stephen Coyle, a student at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, paid a $110 parking fine in pennies
Big haul: Stephen Coyle collected 11,000 pennies in baskets to make a point about how the university uses the money it levies in fines(Image: Let Them count / Facebook)

A student who refused to pay a parking fine has protested against the bill - by trying to pay it with 14,000 pennies.


Stephen Coyle's case has gone viral as he refused to pay a straightforward $140 - around £90 - for the fine imposed by the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.


Instead, he has collected pennies in baskets to make a point about how the university uses the money it levies in fines.


And he's launched a fundraising page to help the university's students in the ways he feels they need it.

The 26-year-old, who is vice president of the university's mathematics club, researched the UNCC's fining system and learned that 80% of the money raised from fines goes to fund local public schools instead of the university.

But getting hold of 14,000 pennies was no easy task, with Mr Coyle admitting he made five separate trips to the bank to get five $25 boxes, equal to 2,500 pennies each, which took staff three hours 40 minutes to count according to the Independent.


Stephen Coyle, a student at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, paid a $110 parking fine in pennies
Boxing clever: Stephen Coyle made five separate trips to the bank to get five $25 boxes, equal to 2,500 pennies each(Image: Let Them Count / Facebook)

Mr Coyle sets out his gripes with the sysrem on his GoFundMe page, which he set up on July 6.

"Why are college students – who are arguably one of the most fiscally challenged group of people – supplementing the funding of public schools when this is actually the responsibility of taxpayers?


"It is my opinion that this is not an appropriate use of parking citation revenue."

UNCC have responded by expressing appreciation of Mr Coyle's initiative in researching Governmental functions.

After highlighting some of the needs of the university - which include classroom maintenance and renovation - Mr Coyle's crowdsourcing aim is to raise $1,000 - around £646 - for academic resources for the UNCC Actuarial Science Club, of which he is the treasurer.

Article continues below

So far he has raised $65, or around £42.

Follow Daily Mirror:


University of NC at CharlotteEducationSchools
reach logo

At Reach and across our entities we and our partners use information collected through cookies and other identifiers from your device to improve experience on our site, analyse how it is used and to show personalised advertising. You can opt out of the sale or sharing of your data, at any time clicking the "Do Not Sell or Share my Data" button at the bottom of the webpage. Please note that your preferences are browser specific. Use of our website and any of our services represents your acceptance of the use of cookies and consent to the practices described in our Privacy Notice and Cookie Notice.