College Students Date "Sugar Daddies" To Pay Tuition...not considered prostitution?

A free website is being accused of helping young college students prostitute themselves so they can pay their college tuition and/or debt. SeekingArrangement.com gives women the opportunity to go on "dates" as "sugar babies" for older men who are financially stable.

A student, who goes by the name Taylor online, 22, told the Huffington Post that she was paid $350 to sleep with a man who was more than twice her age. Taylor is her username on the "seeking arrangement" website. She said she took a train to Conn. from Harlem, where she was picked up by a man she had met online. He took her back to his house; the biggest house she has ever been in. Taylor said they both changed into bathing suits and hung out. After small talk, they had sex.

Afterwards, she said she was taken back to the train and given an envelope with money inside. That's when she said she felt ashamed for what she did but knew she had to do it because tuition was due in September. Taylor said an "arrangement" can range from $1,000 to $3,000 a month.

Many students are trying out websites like SeekingArrangment.com because the education system has taken a  huge hit from the economy. According to Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, a professor of psychology at Clark University, about 85% of the class of 2011 will likely move back in with their parents during some period of their post-college years, compared with 40% a decade ago.

According to the Huffington Post, Brandon Wade, the founder of SeekingArrengement.com, said that business is booming. "College students are one of the biggest segments of our 'sugar babies' and the numbers are growing all the time," he continued, "The 'sugar daddies' are offered companionship and possibly more, depending how much they're willing to pay."

Las Vegas lawyer Allen Lichenstein said the reason why the website hasn't been shutdown is because the parameters of prostitution are clouded. He said, "Any relationship that is an ongoing one that's not purely about sex but may have a sexual aspect to it, you can't really classify as prostitution."

According to a study in Berlin, one in three students there would consider sex-for-money trades as a reasonable way to fund education.

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Do you think this website is a good or bad option for struggling college students?