<p>Their parents must be so proud. </p>
<p>And can you imagine interviewing for a job and being recognized as having been the Boss's former "sugar baby"?</p>
<p>Guessing no one is telling their parents! This isn’t a new idea, Sam Seaborn’s friend in the West Wing was doing this to pay for law school 15 years ago. And I am sure it has gone on longer than that.</p>
<p>This is old news.</p>
<p>This is not news. Probably better than what happened back in the 70s about 20 miles from me, when a certain tech school started admitting women, some of those women saw a business opportunity among the male students and professors…</p>
<p>You do realize that prostitution is legal in Nevada? And that it is likely that some of these young women (men too?) might find some permanent networking connections? </p>
<p>Let adults be adults. Even stupid adults. You also assume that the girl in the article was a first-time ho, no proof of that. Oh, I’m sorry, first-time “escort”.</p>
<p>This is pretty complicated. The old stereotype of a girl “stripping her way through college” is a stereotype for a reason. A lot of girls have done it. I know several. </p>
<p>While this certainly is not something I’d want for my (hypothetical) daughter, it does seem at least marginally safer and more organized than some alternatives. </p>
<p>The number one thing I’m getting out of this article is that a college education in the US is too expensive, and needs to be made more accessible to a wider range of people. </p>
<p>A rose by any other name…</p>
<p>I was thinking of Sam Seaborn too, @intparent. And I never forgot the actress after playing that role either. I may have missed it, but I was always expecting Dr. House to make a joke about Cuddy’s past!</p>
<p>It may be “old news,” but the implication is that it’s a lot more common than it used to be. Not sure if that’s true or not, but it would be interesting to know if the “participation rate” in such activities correlates with the increase in college tuition over the last decade.</p>
<p>Still, I’d rather my daughter take the merit money at a less prestigious school than resort to this.</p>
<p>As most of us would, I am sure. I suspect the internet may have made it a bit easier to arrange, that is probably the only difference today than in the past.</p>
<p>So not new. This was going on in the late 70s/early 80s. I only know because there was a girl in one of my dorms who did this. But what is new is the business model - setting up an internet site like a dating service thus allowing both sides to ignore the obvious - that’s it’s prostitution and the pimp is the person who developed and owns the site.</p>
<p>The only reason this is a bigger business now is the Internet made it easier for both interested parties to find each other. It used to be a local activity only re local strip club. It is now world-wide. The demand was always there. The impediment was distribution, and that has been solved. </p>
<p>I know two executives who write big checks to pay for two coeds’ colleges and probably will pay for med school and business school as well. Bought cars too. All in exchange for…the obvious. </p>
<p>The advantage for each is clear - no strings attached and each get what they want. </p>
<p>Do I condone it? No. Would consult against it? Yes. However, I realize I am barking up the wrong tree when the response is “Why should I should be saddled with $200K debt before my first real W2 job?” Tough to answer that one. And sure, they could choose another academic path, but if that is the path they want then at least they are not robbing banks and hurting other people.</p>
<p>And the safer part is weirdly very true, as the execs pay for routine 3-month doctor visits for the coeds as well. Something they could not afford on their own. They have never been healthier, at least physically that is. One even got braces in her late teens, as part of the deal. And they never have to travel alone anywhere with the car service - a much safer existence for them for sure. </p>
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<p>However, lowering college tuition would not change anything; it would just shift what is purchased. </p>
<p>The girls have figured out something very basic - they have something extremely valuable. If it were not paying for college, it would be for something else. Remember less than 1/2 of people go to college. And only 1/2 who go finish college. There are lots of girls who need to pay for things other than tuition.</p>
<p>“Still, I’d rather my daughter take the merit money at a less prestigious school than resort to this.”</p>
<p>What about kids that don’t have merit money? What about kids whose parents are unable to contribute anything financially to their education? If the choice comes down to graduating with $100,000+ in student loan debt…or…having some sex to fully finance a college education, the choice is a very obvious one for many. </p>
<p>Sex is not a sacred thing to everyone. To a lot of people, it is a purely physical act that can have absolutely no strings attached and no connotations other than the simple fact of the act itself. A lot of people view this as them “giving themselves away” and they picture it as some type of dejection and something to be horribly ashamed of. There are a plethora of reasons to explain why society as a whole seems to view sex in such a way, but it really does not need to be seen that way. They have something that someone wants to pay for. So they’re selling it. It’s as simple as that. </p>
<p>Prostitution has been around for quite a long time. It was viewed as an honorable and necessary trade in many societies. I certainly wouldn’t advise anyone to take such a route, but for some it is the best and most practical option. </p>
<p>I live in a town with many trophy wives ( and far fewer trophy husbands, but they do exist). Beyond the intended duration of the lease, and the more complicated arrangement, I don’t see much difference in many cases. </p>
<p>This thread needs to be moved to Financial Aid forum.</p>
<p>It’s prostitution. What’s more, I suspect they don’t declare the income for taxes, nor to their colleges. Do you think they tell their parents or the authorities? So they’re not only prostitutes, they’re committing tax fraud and financial aid fraud. If they’re dependent on their parents, their parents are then possibly committing fraud by not declaring the income.</p>
<p>No, it is not acceptable to finance an education through crime and fraud. They are more likely to go to prison for concealing income than hooking. But it has the potential to destroy their lives. </p>
<p>One of the students interviewed is a Princeton student. There’s no financial impetus for such a student to prostitute herself, as the college meets financial need.</p>
<p>I am well aware of how often a woman’s past is used to judge her credibility. Search online for “teacher loses job prostitute.” And remember many professions, including lawyers and nurses, require good moral character.</p>
<p>^^ You are a bit mistaken here. </p>
<p>There needs to be an explicit agreement that the exchange is only for sex for the charge of prostitution; implicit does not count. The execs I know do not pay the girls (directly) and there is no discussion of sex ever. </p>
<p>Also, it is not illegal to pay for someone’s school as a benefactor, and it is not necessary to declare such money as income, unless it is above and beyond tuition, room and board and fees. And even then it has to be beyond the allowed gift tax limit. </p>
<p>The point is not all money, particularly money paid directly to schools on someone’s behalf, is considered taxable income. And if someone gives you a car as a gift, that is not income either. The execs smartly pay the bills directly themselves, just like daddy.</p>
<p>I realize, and not for the first time when reading CC, that I have a very limited circle of acquaintances. I guess this is an actual thing? At any rate, Seeking Acquaintances has been in the news, and on CC, before: <a href=“How to pay your college tuition: get a sugar daddy - Parent Cafe - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1648036-how-to-pay-your-college-tuition-get-a-sugar-daddy.html</a></p>
<p>This particular article was focusing on young women attending Ivies and other elite schools, because the johns, I mean gentlemen, want smart, well-educated women to escort them to business and social events before they service them in the sack. I wonder how many of these women share the “arrangements” with their parents, and how many of the men tell their wives and children. If it’s so reasonable and respectable, why not share with their loved ones?</p>
<p>If you’re smart enough to get into Princeton, presumably you’d warrant a merit scholarship to some pretty decent schools.</p>
<p>Not every parent wants to pay their EFC, as we see often enough out here. Might be some students whose parents think they are teaching their daughters self reliance by putting the financial burden on them…</p>
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<p>Maybe because it is none of their business. </p>
<p>The why not share reasoning is one I never understood. I am a very private person and do many things that I just do not care to share because I just do not. Not everyone is goes around telling their lives to others. I get that. </p>
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<p>Yep, nothing like a smart woman. I get that too. </p>
<p>Again, it is a business. If something is in short supply, people will buy it if offered. </p>
<p>The smart girls figured out that there is a shortage of smart (also very attractive) girls who can attend such functions. Some call it selling yourself, and the girls call it selling an experience.</p>
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<p>I can speak as someone who have met a good number of these girls over the years at functions with execs and the reasoning is rather simple - regardless of what the parents are paying, full-freight, a little, or in-between, the answer is the girls all want more. Fill in the blank with whatever that more is, as it varies for each girl. </p>
<p>The two long-term ones I know personally (see previous posts) are doing it solely for paying for school without bills, so they do get more than they would have, since they are debt-free. But, they know others who just do it to travel the world on a private jet, while their real daddies pays for school.</p>
<p>The sugar daddy culture bothers me a lot less than the casual hookup culture on college campus, or the culture of wives who stay with their physically abusive, meal-ticket football player husbands. </p>