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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at KU chapter.

We’ve all joked about responding to the old guys in our Insta DMs or selling a few feet pics for some extra cash. I mean college is pretty damn expensive, you know. However, having a real-life sugar daddy is far more common than I ever thought.

 

According to SeekingArrangement, the most popular website used to connect sugar babies and sugar daddies, 2.7 million US college students and 4.7 million worldwide are using sugar daddies to “avoid student debt and secure a better future.” In fact, there is even a specified platform for college students through SeekingArrangement called “Sugar Baby University.” This website is widely-used because it aids in the process of monetized dating, meaning there is an explicit financial agreement between both parties.

 

Image credit: http://www.hannahfrancesmccreesh.com/2017/05/seekingarrangement-com-glorified-escorting.html

 

Having a sugar daddy doesn’t have to mean sex. At the end of the day, these daddies are seeking company more than anything else. This can be done through phone calls, dinners, attending events, etc. Only when it is consensual do these relationships progress physically. Having a sugar daddy can truly range from a paid mentor-mentee relationship to sexual intimacy, depending on what you’re looking for.

 

The number of college students participating in such activities is continually on the rise because, quite frankly, they’re making bank. The website proudly advertises: “College Sugar Babies receive an average $3,000 per month… Don’t waste precious study hours at a minimum wage job. Connect with generous benefactors on SeekingArrangement.com.” Another example in Business Insider cites that an MBA student at Michigan State University has received $90,000 so far towards education-related costs.

 

Image credit: https://giphy.com/explore/make-it-rain 

 

Many sugar babies will admit the most difficult part of being in this business is the stigma. The common stereotype is that sugar babies are slutty, immoral, and troubled. People hear sugar daddy and think prostitution, but that is no longer the case. On any given college campus, there are many sugar babies around you– just regular students. 

Image credit: https://www.bravotv.com/personal-space/college-girls-sugar-babies

 

References:

https://www.seeking.com/sugar-baby-university

https://www.businessinsider.com/seeking-arrangement-sugar-daddies-pay-su…

Hello! I'm nineteen years old and from a suburb outside Chicago, IL. In my free time, I like to read and write, play with makeup, and spend time with my friends. On the KU campus, I'm majoring in the Strategic Communications side of Journalism with a minor in Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies. I'm also a member of the Gamma Phi Beta sorority. I hope you have as much fun reading my articles as I do writing them :)
Madeleine is a senior at the University of Kansas double majoring in Creative Writing and Journalism. Originally from Omaha, Nebraska, Madeleine spent the last few years of her high school career publishing two books (http://www.lulu.com/shop/m-rheinheimer/project-105/paperback/product-23264977.html + http://www.lulu.com/shop/madeleine-rheinheimer/undefined/paperback/product-22938535.html)  and traveling around the city speaking and sharing with locals. Knowing since the fourth grade that she was destined to be a writer when she grew up, Madeleine enjoys anything that involves creative expression. You can follow her personal blog at: https://illiterateblondes.com