Maybe you would prefer your daughter (or son too, I guess) find other ways to pay for their education?
I think it would be obvious that no parent would choose this course of action for a child. Still, I would never presume to know what others can or cannot afford for their child’s college education – things are not always how they appear from the outside (coming from a parent who paid a lot for her kid’s college education).
Did it say in the article that these graduate students had parents who wouldn’t pay? If so, I didn’t see it.
I am not presuming anything.
My takeaway from this article is that there is an alarming (to me) number of students who are finding it necessary to engage in unsavory activities to fund their educations.
Every so often, some student posts in desperation that his/her parents are refusing to fund their education even though they can well afford to do so. I’d like to presume that these kids are exaggerating or don’t know their parents’ true circumstances, I’d like to presume that - if true - it is a rare thing, and I’d like to presume that there are many other ways for kids in this situation to fund an education, but I don’t like to make presumptions.
I found these figures quite alarming:
[quote]
SeekingArrangement.com says student users on the site jumped from 79,400 worldwide in 2010 to 1.9 million this year and students make up one-third of its users. And while it sees thousands of signups on any given day, the company says enrollment jumps during August and January when tuition is typically due, sometimes to more than double its normal levels.[/unquote]
This kind of story crops up on CC every now and then. Here’s a 35-page thread from 2 years ago - http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1687669-how-sugar-daddies-are-financing-college-education-p1.html
or this one from 2013 -
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1447422-co-eds-pay-pricey-tuition-with-sugar-daddy-help.html
and here’s a short one from 2011-
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1188751-sugar-daddies-the-new-way-to-pay-off-college-loans.html
Everything old is new again…
@patsmom - thanks for those links - if those stories are accurate, then in just two years the number of college students involved with this “service” jumped from about 1 million to two million…yikes…
“Gig economy”…
LOL that 2014 thread was a nice trip back in time!
A longish term relationship w a pleasant sugardaddy is arguably less unsavory than getting drunk at a frat party and making an instant “friend for benefits”.
To me this speaks more to changed views of sex than issues resulting from parents who supposedly can afford to pay for college but who don’t. And I agree it isn’t necessarily any more unsavory (or more dangerous) than what you hear is the common hook up culture.
I don’t see the connection between your chosen subject for the thread and the article. First, the article speaks primarily to grad school which most parents are going to expect their children to be the primary financial contributor. Second, as discussed on here ad nauseam, there are affordable options for undergrad and law school is generally unaffordable and thus potential law students must choose an undergrad that allows debt free graduation.
There are true sex slaves across the globe including the U.S. This is not publicized enough. I’m not blaming parents or the education system who choose to seek a sugar daddy over other options.
Seeking a ‘sugar daddy’ is really prostitution. The woman pictured in the story was getting a law degree. Will she ever be admitted to any bar after admitting to being a prostitute?
Is education really worth prostituting yourself? I’d rather have my dignity and no education.
If the rich boyfriend was closer to the sugarbaby in age, would you still call it prostitution?
This was one of the initial plots on the West Wing. In the first episode, Sam Seaborn met a woman and had sex with her, and he found out later that she was a prostitute working for an escort service – to put herself through law school.
That was in 1999. The concept isn’t exactly new.
I forgot about that @Marian! 
12 - Age has nothing to do with it. It's the motivation for the relationship. A person who exchanges sex for money is a prostitute. Maybe if the paper called it by its proper name rather than 'seeking a sugar daddy' it wouldn't seem so cutesy.
@SouthFloridaMom9, I cheated. I didn’t remember it from 1999. I didn’t watch The West Wing when it was broadcast. But in late 2006, a few months after the show was cancelled, I was stuck home for weeks recovering from an injury, and I was looking for a show to watch in its entirety on Netflix because I was bored. My daughter suggested The West Wing. Good choice!
As long as its two consenting adults and no abuse is taking place, I don’t see the problem. Sure some may see a moral objection to it but I don’t.The only problem I have is that there is still a stigma surrounding sex work. This can impact future jobs, like trying to become an attorney or a school teacher. Of course the people involved need to think of the consequences and decide whether its worth it or not.
I think we should legalize it and have standards set up so no one can be taken advantage of. Last time I checked no county exploded from “moral decay”. I’m more interested in the work ethic of people than their sex lives. This is only my opinion though. I think its sad that people can get so desperate.
I also don’t get why people get so riled about this. It’s not human trafficking. What consenting adults do is their own business.
I’m not opposed to consenting adults making such arrangements -at all. What concerns me is that there may be a growing group of very young adults (18-23ish perhaps?) with not-yet-finished frontal lobes feeling such pressure to pay for college that they decide this is the best way. I would hate for one of my kids to feel so desperate. This will be that awful secret they must hide from most of polite society. Not a great way to start out in life.
The law student featured in the article doesn’t really bother me at all.