More coeds seek 'sugar daddies' for tuition help

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.c​om 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

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