Is it a sign of changing financial and moral perspectives or just
a depressing economic trend?
A website that specializes in helping wealthy men date younger
women says more of those women are looking for a "sugar daddy" to help pay for
their college tuition.
SeekingArrangement.com bills itself as a
dating site "for those seeking mutually beneficial arrangements," such as a
relationship between a sugar daddy and a willing partner.
According the website's founder and CEO, last
year saw a significant rise in the number of college students looking for male
companions to help pay for higher education.
The website says it has more than 2 million
members worldwide. In 2011, 40% of the site's total
population was reportedly composed of college students. After a 58% increase in
student signups last year, that number rose to 44%.
The website says its college-aged member profiles receive
three times more inquires from potential benefactors, and with the uncertain
economy, it expects more college students to be signing up.
"An important social fabric is
broken in our society (when) individuals are taught to fend for themselves once
they turn 18," Brandon Wade, the website's founder & CEO, said in a
press statement.
"We can no longer depend on our government or our parents for
our education. In the absence of these important social support systems, it's no
wonder more and more college students are relying on finding a sugar daddy or
sugar mommy to pay for college."
Miesha Stafford, a student at
Georgia State University -- No. 1 on the site's list of top 20 colleges with
student member signups -- says she isn’t surprised that some of her classmates
might participate. "School’s expensive," she told
WXIA-TV in Atlanta. "And who wants to take all those loans out
and be $20,000, $50,000 in debt after school?"
"Instead of having to choose between
dropping out and getting a job . . . this is a viable option," a company
spokeswoman told
KNBC-TV Los Angeles. "You're paid to become a companion. And
you're getting some business sense and contacts."
A 23-year-old college student in Los Angeles
told KNBC she has no illusions about what's going on. "This is a business
relationship," said the woman, who didn’t want her real name revealed and went
by "Lyla."
The woman said she earned $3,000 a month during a recent
relationship. "There are times I feel like it's not worth it," she said. "I feel
like I'm losing my dignity each time I see a man. But it is worth it
sometimes."
The company says it can determine whether new members are
students if they open an account using a college or university email address
that ends with ".edu." Using that metric, the company says it saw the fastest
increase in new student members last year from the following schools:
1. Georgia State University, 292 signups (No. 11 in 2011)
2. New York University, 285 signups (No. 1 in 2011)
3. Temple University, 268 signups (No. 5 in 2011)
4. University of Central Florida, 221 signups (No. 14 in
2011)
5. University of Southern Florida, 212 signups (No. 7 in
2011)
6. Arizona State University, 204 signups (No. 8 in 2011)
7. Florida International University, 187 signups (No. 20 in
2011)
8. University of Georgia, 148 signups (No. 2 in 2011)
9. Indiana University, 131 signups (No. 17 in 2011)
10. Texas State, 128 signups
11. Kent State University, 123 signups (No. 15 in 2011)
12. Penn State, 121 signups (No. 13 in 2011)
13. University of North Texas, 112 signups
14. Florida State University, 111 signups
15.Tulane University, 109 signups (No. 4 in 2011)
16. Michigan State University, 108 signups (No. 9 in 2011)
17. University of Ohio, 103 signups
18. Columbia University, 100 signups
19. University of Alabama, 96 signups
20. University of California Los Angeles, 91 signups
America may be lagging behind other developed nations in the
essential sector of innovative vending machines -- but perhaps not for long.