WITH incremental increases in student fees and cuts to grants, austerity has forced some third level students at the University of Limerick to take drastic measures to pay for their education.
UL this week topped a list of Irish colleges with students registering on a ‘sugar daddy‘ dating website, in the hopes of securing a wealthy benefactor to provide education funds.
SeekingArrangement.com has one million university students worldwide signed up to their site and according to its operators, 93 UL students have chosen to barter dating for financial aid to pay their way while studying.
The university topped the charts in this year’s list of “Fastest Growing Sugar Baby Schools”. Limerick Institute of Technology was in tenth place with 51 of its students registering on the site last year.
According to spokesperson Angela Jacob Bermudo, 17 per cent more Irish university students are now registering on SeekingArrangement to find wealthy benefactors.
“The privileged have parents, the underfunded have grants, and the intelligent have scholarships. But the resourceful? They have sugar daddies,” she said.
According to the website, the average Irish Sugar Baby receives €6,200 in monthly allowance and gifts from her ‘sugar daddy’ to pay for expenses, such as housing and transportation.
Rachel, a 20-year-old student at the University of Limerick, has had two ‘sugar daddies’. She revealed to the Limerick Post this week why she registered with the dating site.
“One of my mates introduced me to it. I was struggling and needed a quick and easy way to make money. I did it because I didn’t want to worry about finances anymore. It’s better than trying to find a job and not making enough money. I don’t worry about money ever. All I have to do is ask really,” the UL student said.
When asked whether the ‘sugar daddies’ expected sex in return for financial aid, Rachel said, “I don’t know. They’ve never asked me really. I am intimate with the one I have now. That happened after about four months into it, so it felt natural. Even if he is 43.”
“It took me a while to find a good one, like a month or so. Some are serious about it, while others aren’t. You need to be keen on weeding out the bad ones,” the young UL student warned.
