Imagine you’re a college student, struggling to pay steep tuition and living expenses.
Mid-bite of boxed macaroni and cheese, you stumble upon the option of joining a free, “mutually beneficial” online service that promises to pair you with a wealthy man or woman who will chip in for school costs.
Would you do it?
Apparently, an increasing number of Florida college students are taking up the offer.
Four Florida universities — Florida International University in Miami-Dade, the University of Central Florida in Orlando, the University of South Florida in Tampa, and Florida State University in Tallahassee — made the Top 20 list of fastest-growing “sugar baby” memberships for SeekingArrangement.com, a website with more than two million users worldwide.
The site matches “sugar babies” — who may or may not be in college — with well-to-do “sugar daddies” who are willing to help support them.
What do the sugar daddies get in return?
Companionship, the website says.
The University of Central Florida has the fastest-growing membership of all Florida schools, coming in at No. 4 on the SeekingArrangement.com list. UCF has 291 students using the site, 221 joining in the last year.
The University of South Florida ranked No. 5 on the list, with 212 new users in 2012, followed by No. 7 FIU and No. 14 FSU with 187 and 111 new users this year, respectively. FSU is new to the Top 20 list.
Many schools in the Top 20 are located in the South, a fact site organizers attribute to the economy in the region.
“I can see a lot of these families are not able to contribute to their children’s education like they used to,” said Jennifer Gwynn, the director of public relations for SeekingArrangement.com. “I think it’s a hard time for families, and their kids are in college and have to fend for themselves.”
Last year, about 40 percent of the site’s membership was made up of college students. In 2012, it rose to 44 percent.
If college students register with a “.edu” email address, they are automatically given “premium” status on their profiles, which gives them privileges users typically have to pay to use such as reaching out to a prospective sugar daddy.
The site has been criticized for being a possible venue for prostitution. Gwynn says the site takes active measures to prevent that from happening, including screening every user’s profile.
“We are very, very strict about escorts,” she says. “If language on someone’s profile is talking about selling their body, they’re kicked off immediately. That’s not what our site is really about.”
Gordon D. Chavis, associate vice president for undergraduate admissions at UCF, said in an email that he and other administrators aren’t aware of students using the site and said the disclosure is “a complete surprise.”
In a news release, the site’s founder and CEO Brandon Wade said “the growth of southern female co-eds seeking the Sugar Lifestyle is a move in the right direction to bring back Southern charm.”
When asked what he meant by that, Gwynn said she believes being involved with a “sugar daddy” is a way that “people are cultivating these girls to become more successful later in life.”
“You have these southern gentlemen helping [sugar babies] find their way in life, as well as financially,” she said.
Florida colleges rank high in ‘sugar daddies’ paying student tuition
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Florida colleges rank high in ‘sugar daddies’ paying student tuition
