Meet the 'sugar baby' university students who get rich older men to fund their VERY extravagant lifestyles and how they made it

Their faces are everywhere on social media and most young boy and girls beg to live like them, but unaware the truth about their expensive lifestyle. Young, educated and broke is the reality millions of students seeking a university education face. However, some savvy girls have found a controversial way to pay off their tuition fees, cover their rent and buy text books. They also have cash left over at the end of the month to buy designer handbags and to jet off on five-star luxury breaks.

But these undergrads aren't turning to loan sharks or spiralling into thousands of pounds worth of credit card debit. Instead, they have turned to the world's largest online dating website that matches them with wealthy benefactors seeking 'mutually beneficial relationships'.

They are called 'sugar babies', these good-looking girls join rich older men for cinema dates, gym trips and holidays in return for a monthly cash allowance and lavish presents - plus the piece of mind that they'll leave university in the black. 

PR and Marketing student Ali Mohamed, 22, turned to the seekingarrangements website after struggling to juggle her college work with her part-time job.

'I was working four days a week and going to university for five days. It was really hard,' she told FEMAIL. 'I would have to run from lectures straight to work and it was just too much. I needed something easier but with similar pay.'

Ali, from Oxford, heard about the website through friends on her course and 'decided to sign up to see what the shenanigans was all about'.

Despite a slow start - the London Metropolitan pupil was enrolled for six months before she started getting messages - she now has 'arrangements' with two guys. One is 47 years old and the other is 32.  

'Obviously the guys don't know about each other,' she joked. 'One guy buys me stuff when I need it - a new dress if I'm going out, shoes, school books. And the other gives me a monthly allowance of £800 to £1,000.'

Ali stated from the start that she would not have sex with the men and joining the site was purely to fund her education.  

'I specifically - even on my profile - state no intimacy at all because I feel like if you're going to do that it's the same as escorting,' she said. 

She said most men are fine with this and they're mainly just looking for some female companionship. 'One of the guys owns a set of motorbikes,' she said. 'His ex-wife wasn't into motorbikes but I am. We drove to Spain on them, it was really cool. He liked the fact we have stuff in common that he and his wife didn't.' 

 

'I don't think you can carry it on for so long,' she said. 'I don't mind doing it for another year. That could fund my masters. I do want to settle down in the future, though.' 

Ali agrees that it's a weird way to fund her education but that it works well for her. 'It is bizarre. I thought it was so crazy at first,' she laughed. 'Who would want to pay somebody for companionship? But after hearing these people's stories -  their wives have passed away, they're divorced. They don't want marriage they just want female companionship.' She added: 'People think it's a gateway to escorting but if you're honest and just want to give your time, it's not. You have to be clever and sharp.'

19-year-old student and part-time model, who is originally from Cyprus and now lives in the UK, has since had 'two proper arrangements'. The first lasted for four months until the guy moved to Switzerland and she has been seeing the second since October. 

Andrea said the men 'mainly work in banking or finance' and are looking for something 'like a relationship but they don't have time for a serious one'. She said: 'They want somebody that is going to be there for them in the same way. I'm also studying at the moment so it's ideal for me. I don't want anything serious at the moment but you never know.'

Andrea claims to live in a £300-per-week flat that her sugar daddy pays for. She says he also gives her a £500-a-week allowance and showers her with treats.

'Last week I went to Gordon Ramsay's restaurant for a really expensive meal,' she said. 'I also spent £6,000 in Harrods on a Versace bag, a top and some shoes. I get to do loads of stuff I could never usually afford. I go to Venice next month and I always stay in five-star hotels.'

Eva Tomkins, 20, who studies at Manchester Metropolitan, also signed up

Founded in 2006 by dating expert, Brandon Wade, SeekingArrangement currently boasts five million members worldwide.  Nearly a quarter of a million university students in the UK have linked up with sugar daddies - and mommies - a 40 percent increase from the previous year.