With tuition prices on the rise, the question of how to finance a university education without sinking into debt is a source of stress for many. As of late, mainstream media outlets have highlighted the prevalence of sugaring–a situation in which one person is compensated for spending time with another on a regular basis–on university campuses. Commonly discussed using the terms “sugar baby” and “sugar daddy,” media coverage has sensationalized the practice of forming a sugar relationship online.
Jasmine* considered sugaring after graduating from McGill in order to pay for a Masters program at an Ivy League university in the U.S. Although she eventually decided not to pursue a sugar relationship, she recalls how most of her friends would ask her how much she would get paid upon finding out that she was thinking of sugaring.