Editor's Note: Professor Locs, aka Charles Easley, is an educator who explores race, class, gender, sexuality, media and popular culture with humor and insight. His column is published here each Wednesday. Opinions expressed are solely his own. Click here to read his blog.

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We have all heard of a “sugar daddy” -- the older man of generous means who enjoys the company of a pretty young thing. Well, the Huffington Post recently ran an article about a new phenomenon: “sugar babies.”

These are young, female college students who visit websites such as SeekingArrangement.com in search of men willing to pay off their student loans.

Some of you may wonder whether this is just another form of prostitution. One of my mentors once said, and I have shared it many times with my students, that we all prostitute ourselves at some point in our lives. The question we must ask is: How much are we willing to give up in order to get what we want?

To put it plainly: Are you going to be a streetwalker or an escort?

This is the question some female college students apparently find themselves pondering. (I remember when all they worried about was which sorority to pledge.)

I have met a few students who offset the cost of college by stripping and/or exotic dancing, but who am I to judge? If I thought the pole could handle my considerable bulk and clumsy dance moves, there have been months when I might have climbed on stage rather than paying Sallie Mae, the ultimate pimp.

Taylor, one of the women featured in the HuffPost article, said she found herself facing more than $15,000 in unpaid tuition and overdue bills. She and her roommate decided to Google the words "tuition," "debt," and "money for school," which yielded the website SeekingArrangement.com. I was curious so I Goggled “tuition,” “debt,” “old,” “desperate” and “money for student loans.” All I got was a site for Joe’s Chop Shop and short-term “high-interest” loans…lol.

Taylor created a "sugar baby" profile and eventually connected with a man. She described herself in the profile as "a full-time college student studying psychology and looking to meet someone to help pay the bills" (Hey, put her in some big hair, fishnets and high heels and she could be a backup singer for Destiny’s Child...“Bills, Bills, Bills.”)

Mark Kantrowitz, who publishes the financial aid websites Fastweb.com and Finaid.org, said the average 2011 graduate will finish college with about $27,200 in debt, but many are straining to pay off significantly more.

Brandon Wade, founder of SeekingArrangement.com, was quoted as saying: "College students are one of the biggest segments of our sugar babies, and the numbers are growing all the time." He said his company provides a unique service, a chance for "men and women living through tough economic times to afford college." (Forget Oprah; maybe this guy should get the next humanitarian award.)

Wade denied that he is running a virtual cathouse. He instead described his site as one that facilitates "mutually beneficial relationships."

Ok, is it just me or is that not what The Mack and other pimps provide?

Back to Taylor, our college coed. She wouldn't come out and say it, but another "sugar baby" profiled in the article said, "If this isn't what prostitution is called, I don't know what it is."

If this is going to be the next big thing, then let’s dispense with the pretense and set up an actual school for these women. We can call it Kit Kat University. The curriculum would include courses like Positions 201. All tests, of course, would be oral exams. The university could host guest lecturers like Karrine Steffans. The uniform would be Catholic schoolgirl, circa Britney Spears, “Baby One More Time.”

I am being facetious, of course, mainly because I am somewhat conflicted. We are living in economic times that place increasing pressure on the lower and middle classes to simply make it day to day.

Intellectually, I think it is sad that educated women must still revert to the oldest profession to make a living. On the other hand, the uncle and mentor in me bristles at the thought of a bunch of well-to-do, nefarious old lounge lizards taking advantage of young economically challenged students.

These young women should be more concerned with honing their minds rather than perfecting their lap dances. Maybe the real crime is the staggering cost of a college education.

What do you guys think: "Sugar babies” or just plain old “working girls?”

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