My College Insurrection colleague Leslie Eastman recently reported on a number of ways college students are selling themselves to pay off student loans.

Now Paul Bedard of the Washington Examiner reports another sad development in this arena.

Coeds turning to ‘sugar daddies’ to pay tuition

The ever-soaring price of college tuition, coupled with a similar jump in student loan debt, has a record number of female coeds turning to “sugar daddies” to help pay for their education and lifestyle, according to a website that links “sugar babies” with “sugar daddies.”

The site, SeekingArrangement.com, said that the number of women joining the sight jumped 58 percent last year. Locally, George Mason University made the list of schools seeing big jumps. It ranks 59th and saw a 62% surge in women signing up with the site in 2012.

According to SeekingArrangement.com, “the average college sugar baby receives approximately $3,000 per month to cover the cost of tuition, books and living expenses.”

“The population of college sugar babies in D.C. has steadily increased every year, with GMU leading all major universities in the D.C. area,” said the site’s founder, Brandon Wade. “While some may argue that these women are just using men for their own personal gain, I believe that they are proactive in pursuing a higher education.”

He added: “College should be an opportunity to expand the mind and experience new things. Unfortunately, because of the of recent tuition hikes, the college experience has become greatly unbalanced.”

The site claims two million members. In 2011, college students comprised 40% of the members. But after the 58 percent jump last year, they now total 44 percent.