‘Sugar Daddies’ sought by hundreds of NJ college students

You can find anything online these days, and what many New Jersey college students are looking for is someone to help them out with the cost of education.

The deal: help pay for my tuition and I'll be your companion.

At least 800 college students in the Garden State are currently registered as Sugar Babies with the dating site SeekingArrangement.com, which also boasts a lengthy roster of folks interested in serving as Sugar Mommies and Sugar Daddies - money isn't an issue, and they'd like to spread the wealth.

Angela Jacob Bermudo, a website spokesperson, said it's like any other dating site with your standard profile, except there's a field for Sugar Babies to declare how much money they need to "further themselves."

"There's a total of 371 students at Rutgers University that are participating in the trend - about a 17 percent increase from the previous year," Bermudo said.

Rutgers graduate student Tsura Papiashvili, 25, has been benefiting from a Sugar Daddy for the past couple months. The man in his 60s, she said, is interested in the work she does and wants to help.

"We sat down, we had dinner, we hit it off," Papiashvili told New Jersey 101.5. "We have a lot in common."

But the relationship is not physical. They meet up, sometimes weekly, and discuss her goals and financial situation.

"I'm looking for financial support; he's looking for companionship," Papiashvili said. "I did go to a Christmas party with him, and he got a kick out of taking a 25-year-old blonde girl to a Christmas party."

Papiashvili would not share how much assistance she's received so far.

Bermudo said some of these arrangements could become physical, but that's not the point of the system. Companionship is the most important factor, she said.

"For the Sugar Daddies and the Sugar Mommies - the reason why they do this is because they are looking for a relationship that's sort of void of the usual drama that you get in a traditional relationship," Bermudo said.

SeekingArrangement.com, now in its 10th year, has more than 5 million members worldwide. About 3.8 million are Sugar Babies.