Unless you are an incredible athlete or your parents were involved in the biggest college admissions scam ever, getting into and through college is not cheap. Actually, it can be insanely expensive in some parts of the country, but there is actually an unusual solution to cut down tuition bills and avoid massive student loan debt that kids are taking advantage of.
Just when you thought there has to be something a college kid wouldn't do, they always take it a step further. Over 2.7 million students in the United States are on SeekingArrangement.com —the world's largest Sugar Daddy dating site — to get a "sugar daddy" or "sugar mommy" to help "secure a better future."
Yes, Sugar Baby University is a for real thing. It's not a crazy epidemic, but it's growing and definitely crazy enough to make your jaw drop.
According to SeekingArrangement, more than 42 million Americans have student loan debt in the US and the average debt per student rose by five percent to $40,000 in 2018. That's why this is the latest college trend.
Sugar Baby University
Want tuition paid for? Want tickets to the big game? Have no fear, apparently. The average monthly allowance for a "sugar baby" is $3,000, according to a SeekingArrangement press release.
You don't want to believe it? Well, the company's annual report broke down the "Fastest Growing Sugar Baby Schools of 2019" organized by new sign-ups in 2018 and student total in 2019.
1. Georgia State University (306 New, 1,304 Total)
2. University of Central Florida (296 New, 1,068 Total)
3. The University of Alabama (270 New, 968 Total)
4. Florida State University (257 New, 873 Total)
5. University of Florida (251 New, 501 Total)
6. Rutgers University (225 New, 684 Total)
7. California State University, Fullerton (206 New, 525 Total)
8. University of Nevada, Las Vegas (203 New, 583 Total)
9. University of North Texas (192 New, 573 Total)
10. University of Missouri (183 New, 542 Total)
11. West Virginia University (167 New, 550 Total)
12. University of Cincinnati (161 New, 522 Total)
13. University of Southern California (156 New, 583 Total)
14. San Francisco State University (154 New, 510 Total)
15. University of California, Los Angeles (153 New, 614 Total)
16. Columbia University (152 New, 1,008 Total)
17. New York University (147 New, 1,676 Total)
18. University of North Carolina (142 New, 514 Total)
19. University of Texas, San Antonio (141 New, 875 Total)
20. Colorado State University (138 New, 356 Total)
"Over the past three administrations, the overall cost of attending college has more than doubled. 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 numbers speak for themselves. Of the four million students on SeekingArrangement, more than 62 percent attend college in the US."
—SeekingArrangement Founder and CEO Brandon Wade
Need more of a breakdown, here are some more basics of SeekingArrangement, which was founded in 2006:
Source: SeekingArrangement Press Release
So how does this play into sports? Well, for those who want college athletes to get paid for their likeness, perhaps you know someone who is less fortunate to get a free education and might call on something like dating website SeekArrangement to make sure they get the proper education.
Every college student wants money, and these kind of ways makes you shake your head as to how and why a young woman or young man gets it to avoid student debt.
This post was originally published on March 12, 2019.
