College students pay tuition by hooking up with sugar daddies, mommas
SeekingArrangements released its annual list universities with the most alternative dating profiles
Mom and Dad can’t or won’t pay for college? Not smart or athletic enough for scholarships? Financing the tens of thousands of dollars needed to pay for tuition, fees, room and board seems impalatable?
Come to an arrangement.
About 4 million students are looking for generous partners — sugar daddies or sugar mommas — through dating site SeekingArrangements to help pay for some or part of their school bills. Of that, 62 percent, or 2.48 million, are students in the United States, according to the company. The site recently released its list of schools nationwide with the largest growth in new profiles.
“The numbers speak for themselves,“ Brandon Wade, the founder and CEO of Seeking Arrangements, said in a statement.
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The annual list has been published as millions of Americans owe $1.5 trillion in student loan debt. And about a quarter of those with student loans are estimated to default on them within the first five years of repaying, according to Pew research.
The weight of student debt has many of the Democrats seeking their party’s nomination to run for president in November, including senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, to propose some type of loan forgiveness. Warren has proposed forgiving all debt for former students who are earning less than six figures.
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President Trump has asked advisers for a plan that would rely on policy changes, like lowering interest rates and eliminating debt through bankruptcy, according to Dow Jones. Congress may be asked to change bankruptcy laws. And the president could order government lawyers not to oppose bankruptcies, which could help clear those debts.
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“Over the past three administrations, the overall cost of attending college has more than doubled,” said SeekingArrangments CEO Wade, “Students are tired of hearing politicians campaign on the importance of education, job growth and opportunity just to leave promises on the convention floor.”
The cost of college is rising and states are paying more public universities at a greater cost. The cost of a public four-year institution in the 2018-2019 school year was about $10,339, while a private four-year institution cost $36,386.
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Overall, costs – adjusted for inflation – increased more than 386 percent for public four-year institutions, and 285 percent for private four-year institutions between 1964 and 2019, according to data from GOBankingRates. When inflation is not accounted for, those percentages rise to 3,819 percent and 2,988 percent, respectively.
Students are the top profession of “sugar babies” and 30 percent of sugar babies use gifts from sugar daddies and mommies to pay for tuition and other school-related expenses. It was the top category of spending, according to the company.
In the United States, there are more than 8.7 million women and 3.278 million men looking for arrangements with 2.1 million sugar daddies and 370,498 sugar mommas, according to the company
"There is no 'typical' arrangement, but this is how we define it: An arrangement is an upgraded relationship built on a foundation of honesty about expectations," Kimberly De La Cruz, SeekingArrangements head of public relations, told FOX Business. "Whether it's time constraints, polyamory or wanting to be strictly platonic, these couples are open and upfront. We call it 'Relationships on Your Terms.' "
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However, the company said in a prepared statement that an “allowance” of about $3,000 could be enough to pay for tuition and room and board. But that kind of allowance would be extraordinary, De La Cruz said.
Southern state schools top the list in 2018.
Georgia State University, University of Central Florida and the University of Alabama claimed the top three spots on SeekingArrangments Sugar University. GSU had a total of 1,304 students using the site, and 306 of them signed up in 2018, according to Seeking Arrangements.
A spokeswoman for GSU declined to comment and representatives from the University of Central Florida and the University of Alabama did not respond to messages seeking comment.
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Here's the list of universities that had the most students sign up in 2018, according to SeekingArrangments:
Georgia State University
Georgia State University
Enrollment: More than 53,000 students.
Cost for 12 credit hours: $4,643.24.
Seeking Arrangment Signups in 2018: 306.
Students seeking arrangements: 1,304.
University of Central Florida
Aerial photo University of Central Florida architecture
Enrollment: 69,525.
Cost for 12 credit hours: $2,547.36.
Seeking Arrangement Signups in 2018: 296.
Students seeking arrangements: 1,068.
University of Alabama
Historic marker located near Denny Chimes on The University of Alabama campus in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
Enrollment: 38,103.
Cost full-time tuition and fees: $11,580.*
SeekingArrangement Signups in 2018: 270
Students seeking arrangements: 968
*Cost of full 2019-20 academic year.
Florida State University
The Florida State University
Enrollment: 41,717.
Cost for 12 credit hours: $4,204.80.
Seeking Arrangement Signups in 2018: 257.
Students seeking arrangements: 873.
University of Florida
Entrance Sign at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida.
Enrollment: 56.079.
Cost for full-time tuition: $6,381.
Seeking Arrangement Signups in 2018: 251.
Students seeking arrangements: 501.
NOTE: These are public universities and the tuition costs are for "in-state" students