The New Way to Pay for College

By Brynn White

I think that it goes without saying that college is expensive and that it can be an obstacle to finish school without adequate funding. Sure there are scholarships, loans, and more scholarships for the academic elite with high GPA’s and athletes. But where does that leave everyone else who wasn’t born into wealth,  have athletic genes, or any other innate ability that gives me access to funds ?

College girls and some young men are turning to sugaring. “Sugaring” is considered a mutually beneficial relationship between the young and attractive with a wealthy mature man or woman. It is uncharted territory and many of called it modern prostitution, but there is no denying that there are some very obvious benefits. Many “sugar babies” (college students) are offered base allowances of $2,500 per month for a once a week meetup.

The process of finding a sugar daddy or mamma has become increasingly easier in the age of social media type platforms. Websites like Seeking Arrangements and Sugar Daddies allow for people to communicate online and view each other’s profiles. The wealthy counterparts must pay a fee to belong on the site and some are background checked and verified. On the profile it displays their yearly income,  net worth, and describes the type of relationship that they are seeking out.

Now, you may be asking yourself, how is this even remotely legal? Well, as long as the sugar babies are being paid for services outside of sex, it isn’t considered prostitution. As long as you are 18 years old or older, it is perfectly legal. Whether it is ethical or not is a whole other question. Many of these wealthy counterparts in the equation are married and some are explicit about over sexualizing the woman.

I decided to do a bit of an experiment to see what this was about. So, with an older friend’s permission, I built a profile around her using her pictures and a bio that I thought best describes her and her best attributes. Within hours being on the site, her profile was viewed several times and she received several messages offering her monthly allowances between $3,500- $6,000 for weekly visits. This didn’t include any additional pampering and gifts. It seems like “easy” money depending on the type of relationship that you have both agreed upon. But at what cost?

Women are now more than ever being seen as simply sexual objects that can be enticed by money. Currently, there is estimated to be over 1 million college girls and boys involved in a sugaring relationship. So who is to blame? The wealthy men and women? Universities and colleges for such outrageous tuition? To be honest, I think that everyone plays a part in this equation.

No one person can be held responsible for a system that is corrupt and quite off-centered.

My advice to anyone who is pursuing this option is to tread lightly. You are diving into murky waters that can be dangerous.