New Trend: College Students Using Sugar Daddies To Pay Off Loans


Seeking Arrangement Notices Influx In College Members

Lauren Legette

“Can you pay my bills? Can you pay my telephone bills? Do you pay my
automobile?  If you do then maybe we can chill.  Oh, you do?  Then let’s talk….”

Not only are those modified lyrics of Bills, Bills, Bills, a popular song by girl-group Destiny’s Child, it is a sour reality that a lot of 20-something young women are living.  Go to any search engine and type in the words “tuition”, “debt”, and “money for school”.

A website called SeekingArrangement.com will probably come up.  That’s what happened for Taylor, a 22-year old student at Hunter College who was facing financial troubles.  Taylor (the pseudonym she uses) created a“sugar baby” profile in search of a sugar daddy who can pay her bills!
Can you believe this really exists?

On the site, the 22-year-old describes herself as “a full-time college student studying psychology and looking to meet someone to help pay the bills.”  The financial crisis is even affecting our children who are seeking a better education, a better life.  Many of these youngpeople are beginning their adult lives with substantial amounts of student loans and credit card debt.

According to Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, a professor of psychology at Clark University, about 85% of the class of 2011 will likely move back in with their parents duringsome period of their post-college years, compared to 40% a decade ago.

These same young people struggling for an advancement of education are turning to any means necessary to seek financial gain, even if disguised as selling themselves.  “The number of college students using our site has exploded,” says Brandon Wade, the 41-year-old
founder of Seeking Arrangement.  He tells reporters that the site has over 800,000 members, and 35% of them are college students.  “College students are one of the biggest segments of our sugar babies and the numbers are growing all the time.”

If you’re like me, at this point you should be questioning the legality of this?!  Like how can someone get away with this? Essentially Wade is pimping these kids out, right?  Wade goes on to
tell reporters that he “rewards” students who use their .edu e-mail address to register on Seeking Arrangement by automatically upgrading their free, basic membership to a premium membership, allowing them to send unlimited free messages and granting them exclusive access to thesite’s VIP sugar daddies.  The site also stamps student profiles,
certifying them as a “College Sugar Baby”.  I mean really, where are the police?!

Taylor, who says she was motivated by the need for money, says she doesn’t see it as doing anything wrong or illegal.  Read more on Taylor’s story

MTV recently featured this topic on their hit show True Life.  The most alarming thing about this situation, is that in some cases, many of these students are being encouraged by their parents or guardians to participate in such crude acts!  The episode highlight three young women who utilized a service similar to Seeking Arrangement with aspirations of having a sugar daddy, and even a sugar mommy in one particular case.
When thinking of giving up the sugar baby act, one young lady was  encouraged by her mother to stick it out in order to help “pay the bills”.  Can you believe it?

How far is too far when facing financial debt?  What would you do to
stay afloat?  Can you really pay for companionship?  IS THIS LEGAL?

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