NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — In a story that might sound too juicy to be true, a young man said in an online student newspaper submission that he has been living as a college student by day and an escort by night.
As CBS 2’s Don Champion reported Wednesday, Columbia University is one of the top schools in the nation, but at a cost of $59,682 for annual tuition, it is also one of the most expensive.
“I hate to say it, but like, you got to do what can to pay your tuition,” Columbia student David Mottola said.
But one student’s way of helping fund his Columbia education has been raising eyebrows. In a submission to the Columbia Lion student blog, the Ivy Leaguer – who did not use his name – admitted to working as an escort on the side.
“The most common is four hours for dinner and sex, which for me runs about $1,200, plus the cost of dinner and a hotel room,” the student wrote.
Through the editor of the Lion, the student escort declined CBS 2’s request for an interview. The editor told CBS 2’s Champion he verified the student’s story by talking to his madam.
The student wrote that he is marketed by his madam as a “Prince Charming… because I remind middle-aged women of that popular guy they liked in high school, even though I rarely play sports and was definitely not That Guy in high school.”
He described himself as coming from “kind of lower-middle-class, traditionally Catholic family that has 10 million kids. As well as it pays, I’m not exactly looking for my baby siblings to dream of growing up and making it big as an escort.
“But f**k it,” the student continues in the article, “if I can get paid $15,000 to spend a December week lounging on a beach in Tuscany instead of freezing my ass off in New York, I’m going to do it, while I’m still young enough to be hired for that sort of gig.”
Even more glamorously, the student also claimed he was paid to accompany a woman while she took her daughters to a Justin Bieber concert at Barclays Center. And he wrote that he and the woman got intimate in a restroom during the concert.
In the article, the student appeared to be torn by his work.
“I have plenty of escort friends who will proudly announce their line of work to anyone who listens, my girlfriend included, but I’m always a little paranoid of it getting back to my parents,” he wrote. “They would probably be distraught to learn that the checks I send home are the products of dating women looking for affection and not the kind of hard work they sent me to school for.”
Many fellow Columbia students were, in fact, quite understanding.
“I think that it’s difficult in a time in which education all over costs a lot of money,” student Maria Diez said.
“I think it’s his decision,” added Mottola. “I don’t think that it’s really anyone’s else’s right to criticize him for it.”
Another college student made similar headlines earlier this year. Using the screen name Belle Knox, a Duke University freshman has become known for acting in the adult film industry to pay her tuition.
Knox has said began doing porn to supplement her financial aid at Duke, as she was dealing with a tuition bill of more than $20,000 per semester, according to the Duke Chronicle.
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