More than 1,000 Cambridge University students are using a 'sugar daddy' website to help pay their tuition fees and living costs
- Seeking Arrangement says nearly 500,000 UK students are using its services
- Students on average are said to get 'a monthly allowance of £2,900'
- Survey of users revealed 30 per cent spend it on tuition/school-related expenses
More than a thousand students at the University of Cambridge are now using a 'sugar daddy' website to help pay tuition fees and living costs, according to new figures.
Dating website Seeking Arrangement, which helps 'sugar babies' get financial support from older men and women, has revealed that a shocking number of students at top British universities are using its services.
Figures show 1,019 students at Cambridge are currently seeking a 'sugar daddy or sugar mommy' on the site - almost one in every 20 enrolled at the university.
Among the 475,320 UK students the Las Vegas-based company says are among its current users, 340 are studying at the University of Oxford.
More than a thousand students at the University of Cambridge are now using a 'sugar daddy' website to help pay tuition fees and living costs, according to new figures (file photo)
Meanwhile, reflecting the cost of living in London, 218 have signed up this year from the capital's University of Arts, resulting in a total to 845.
Students on average get 'a monthly allowance of £2,900' after finding an arrangement on the website, according to the American firm.
Seeking Arrangement lists 'student' as the most common occupation of a sugar baby and the website's own survey of users revealed 30 per cent spend their gains on 'tuition/school-related expenses'.
Founder and CEO of Seeking Arrangement, Brandon Wade said: 'With little regard from the institutions of students' inability to pay increasing tuition and living costs in the UK, many are being forced to find alternative methods to fund their education.
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'Young people understand the importance of a degree and want to achieve their educational goals, but they can no longer depend on traditional means to get through school.'
On the website it states: 'If university students didn't have enough to worry about with tuition fees at a high of £9,250, post-graduation employment holds even more uncertainty.
'The amount of British students seeking Sugar Daddies and Mommies to help alleviate some of that stress grew to 475,320 in 2018.
'The value of an education is undeniable, but students aiming for first-class degrees have been overwhelmed in recent years by continuous tuition increases.
Dating website Seeking Arrangement, which helps 'sugar babies' get financial support from older men and women, has revealed that a shocking number of students at top British universities are using its services
'Furthermore, new legislation now allows universities to raise fees annually until 2020. It's easy to see why students in the UK are seeking wealthy benefactors to help offset education costs.
'Sugar Baby students receive an average monthly allowance of £2,910, which is double the potential amount one can earn working a part-time job at the national minimum wage.'
However student advisory site Save the Student has urged caution for those considering entering into such arrangements.
Jake Butler, operations director at Save The Student, said: 'Every year we run a national student money survey and around four per cent admit being involved in adult work as a way to make money and fund university.
'Within this many have told us that they are involved in sugar dating.
'Whilst some see this as a legitimate line of work, as an organisation our worry is that students are being forced into seeking ways of making money they wouldn't have if they were financially comfortable.
'We don't offer support directly but are constantly campaigning for the government to increase the student maintenance loan so students aren't left short at the end of each month.
'I would advise any student to speak to their university about available funding and support before considering signing up to something they may not feel comfortable with.'
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