FIU students who were asked about their school’s No. 20 ranking were uniformly dismissive of ever using that type of dating site, though some female students said income is usually — and appropriately — a factor when they are assessing a dating partner.

“That reflects upon ambition, smarts … you’re looking for someone who’s going to be stable,” said Leyana Quintero, a 19-year-old international relations major.

Senior Yuleni Pulido, 24, agreed, while insisting that there’s a huge difference between noticing what kind of car your guy drives and joining a “sugar” website.

“In a relationship, there’s still feelings and emotions and integrity involved,” Pulido said. Sugar dating, she said, seems “like a formal transaction.”

Wade rejects the notion his website functions like a glorified escort service — escorts, in fact, are specifically barred from joining. A steady stream of prostitutes still try to become members anyway, however. Wade says about 10 to 20 escorts are removed daily.

Membership is strongest in big cities, as opposed to college towns, Wade said. Wade speculated this could be due to the higher cost of living in metropolitan areas, or the more-sizable supply of wealthy Sugar Daddies living there.

Andy Jeanthenor, who is finishing up his degree at FIU after attending Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, offered another theory. Seeing wealth, he said, makes people covet wealth.

In Tallahassee, Jeanthenor said most of his classmates were broke, and Mercedes-Benz sightings were rare. As a result, the big shots on campus weren’t those with fat wallets, but folks like the class president, members of the right fraternity or players on the football team.

In Miami, he said, there’s “that lure of money and fast cars and all that stuff.” Though his major of computer engineering offers the promise of a healthy future salary, Jeanthenor wishes the women he dated cared less about his earning power and more about his personality.

“I guess it’s just the society we live in now,” Jeanthenor said. “The values are mixed up.”