By Jayne Feldman

Universities in America are getting more expensive every year and many students fear the burden of loans. A survey conducted by Adobo found that “Only 11% of students said they weren’t responsible for any of their college costs and 24.4% of students said they were fully responsible for covering all of their own college costs.” Most students have a steady job, but some are in search of unconventional arrangements to pay for their education.

In 2006, the website “Seeking Arrangement” was created to pair young women with older men that would pay them for a date. The men, referred to as “sugar daddies,” were mostly middle-aged and in search of companionship. The young women, referred to as “sugar babies,” were mostly in their twenties and in search of a little extra cash.

The website evolved into one of the most popular dating apps available on the app store. It works like any other dating app, but with a few unique features: sugar babies swipe through profiles of sugar daddies and find the perfect match based on their looks, age and net worth. The app advertises itself as “a place where beautiful, successful people fuel mutually beneficial relationships.”

Additionally, the app showcases the versatile purposes of making a match: “date rich men,” “date experienced men,” and “find a mentor.” One selling point of the app is that sugar babies can be paid hundreds of dollars for two hours or less of service.

Once the match is made, sugar babies can chat and determine their comfort level and rate of service. Most of the exchanges on the app are non-sexual and many of the sugar daddies claim to be lonely or in need of arm candy for a special event.

Lucy Nichols (this name has been altered to protect the student’s identity), a college student at Georgia State University, describes how she discovered the app.

“I discovered ‘Seeking Arrangement’ probably around my senior year in high school through some friends. I saw how they were getting all of these things from men by just having conversations with them,” Nichols said. “I realized that specifically being at GSU, there were a lot of businesses around with men who had no problem helping out students who needed it under the right circumstances.”

Nichols recalls her first date with a sugar daddy and her intentions going into the experience.

“I was more excited than nervous because I knew that the only reason that I was doing this was to help me pay for anything school-related,” Nichols said. “My other experiences after that have been a lot easier and smoother because I was a lot more upfront about what the situation is and what we both wanted out of it.”

Nichols is open with her friends and siblings about her experiences as a sugar baby. She plans on using the app as a side job for any additional expenses that her regular job may not be able to afford.

In 2014, “Seeking Arrangement” offered “Premium Membership” status– which allows members to send their personal contact information– to any student that signed up for the service using their university email address. After this, 1.4 million students registered for the dating app. That number accounts for over 50 percent of all users on the app.

Though students are balancing 20-hour work weeks on top of a full-time school schedule, their waitressing and nanny jobs are not cutting the deal. Because Seeking dates average a two-hour timeframe, it makes it easy for sugar babies to get their fix throughout the week.

Another student from Georgia State University, Diana Brooks (this name has been altered to protect the student’s identity), created her account one month ago when she realized she was struggling to pay for groceries and school dues.

“I was really scared to get started, but I took my time choosing someone that I felt comfortable talking to. I had a friend track my location the entire time and I would sneak away to the bathroom to text her that I was okay,” Brooks said. “The man I met with just offered me a mentorship type of relationship and said he would help me with my major courses if I needed.”

Brooks described how the bittersweet experience helped her stay afloat in a time of trouble.

“I left the date with $250 in my account and I used it to pay all of my dues off. It was so stressful not knowing how I was going to make ends meet that week and this was a good solution for me,” Brooks said. “I text him from time to time and I really just think he is a lonely person. I do not think I will do it again, though.”

Getting a degree has never been so expensive and American students are intent on earning one at any cost. Of all jobs and side hustles, “Seeking Arrangement” is a particularly unconventional one, but these students are determined to be debt-free when their four years come to an end.