Written by Michael Analco/ Contributing writer
Tuition is a very common financial issue that college students struggle with every semester.
Some seek out scholarships and grants opportunities or loans to help pay for their college expenses.
According to research conducted in 2015 by Ohio State University, 70 percent of college students stress about having to pay for school. About half of students surveyed said they worry about making monthly ends meet.
With students work minimum wage jobs while attending school, students like Elio Gonzalez, a sophomore majoring in finance, said he wonders what lengths students go to in order to afford school.
“Luckily my mom helps me pay for my school,” said Gonzalez,
Lately the sex and escort industry has received a boost from college students. Websites like SeekingArrangement.com have become viable options for college students who struggle to pay for college.
In an interview conducted in 2011 by the Huffington Post with the founder of the website, Brandon Wade, estimated that of the 800,000 “sugar babies,”– those who work as the escorts in the site– about 35 percent of them were college students.
When asked about the number of college students using sites like Seeking Arrangement to pay for school and tuition, Gonzalez said he was unaware that students would go these lengths.
“I mean, I knew that students would work in places like strip clubs and as dancers at clubs. I actually have a friend who joined a male strip club and gets booked for shows all the time,” said Gonzalez.
“I just never realized that escort services were common ways for girls and guys to pay for school. I’ve never met someone who sold their body for sexual purposes [to afford taking classes] so knowing that there might be some students at FIU who do this is kind of upsetting.”
Brittany Peguero, a senior in business administration in management, said she wasn’t surprised students are escorting to afford school.
“It’s really not that surprising, to be honest. I think that students would rather not get into so much loan debt and if these services helped you pay for school then you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do,” said Peguero.
Paola Cadena, a junior majoring in biology, said that the college escort service is a result of college being too expensive.
“The increasing number of college students in this business tells me that education is very expensive and students aren’t getting help from other sources.” said Cadena.
“Education is more expensive than it should be,” said Peguero. Nowadays, we can’t even be as successful as we expected to be with a bachelor’s degree. Most of us need to pursue grad schools degrees to make it in our fields. That equals more money, obviously; and, well, that’s why you’ve got [college] kids working in escort services and the sex [industry] ”
Gonzalez also commented on the college financial system saying “what it shows is that higher education in the U.S. is becoming harder and harder to afford for students and their families. There has to be some reform so that students don’t one, have to be escorts to pay for school, and two, become dependent on it as a way to have money for the rest of their lives.”
Photo Courtesy of Creative Commons.
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