A list of the “Top 20 Fastest Growing Sugar Baby Schools” (including two in Ohio) has triggered a palpable response from media types and morality monitors. Look what the ever-rising cost of attending college is doing to our poor dears, these self-styled paragons of virtue exclaim.

Indeed, SeekingArrangement.com, the world’s largest Sugar Daddy website, which released the list, put just such a spin on the statement its founder, Brandon Wade, issued:

“While some might argue that these women are just using men for their own personal gain, I believe that they are proactive in pursuing a higher education. College should be an opportunity to expand the mind and experience new things. Unfortunately, because of recent tuition hikes, the college experience has become greatly unbalanced.”

Given that the average college coed — Sugar Baby — receives about $3,000 a month from her Sugar Daddy, supposedly to cover the cost of tuition, books and living expenses, a persuasive argument can be made that this isn’t just about higher education. It’s a lifestyle that an increasing number of female college students find appealing.

After all, they aren’t doing anything with their Sugar Daddies they wouldn’t normally be doing on campus. The difference is that the men who are “supporting” them have the financial means to make their college experience a breeze — instead of a slog. Think about it: A night working in a fast-food restaurant with drunken college boys pawing at you, or a night at an exclusive restaurant with drunken older men ogling you.

The bottom line about this Sugar Baby-Sugar Daddy growing phenomenon is that no one is being forced to participate. In fact, it isn’t even new. There have been numerous first-person accounts about the experience, and there even is a French film based on the real-life account of a young college student away from home who is unable to make ends meet. She uses the Internet to hook up with men of means.

What is intriguing about SeekingArrangement.com’s new list is that Ohio’s Kent State University led all major universities in the past year with the number of new sign-ups. Overall, Kent State ranked 11^th, while Ohio University came in 17^th. Michigan State was 16^th. No. 1 on the list is Georgia State University, with New York University in second place, and Temple University in third.

SeekingArrangement.com claims to have over 2 million members, with 44 percent of the population coming from colleges.

The story of Sugar Babies and Sugar Daddies is as old as the story of Adam and Eve. It’s still about the apple.