University Girls Strip To Pay For Their Degrees

Christina Morgan, 21, English Literature, Media Studies

21-year-old Christina Morgan from Essex studies English Literature and Media Studies. She rakes in as much as £2,000 a night by stripping, reports The Sun which carried a survey on college girls  funding their studies by stripping. 

Says Christina:. "I want to get a first-class degree and just have to work really hard now.  My hope is to be an actress after uni and I already have an agent, but I've put that thought on hold because I want to get a degree first. Writing is a passion as well and television is the route that I want to go down. I did have other part-time jobs, I worked in a shoe shop and the money was OK. But after a suggestion from one of my friends from university I went for an audition at Spearmint Rhino in London. They knew I needed a job and that I like to dance. I got the job. I went into it quite naively and didn't know what it involved until I got there. I didn't want to quit so decided to give it a go. The first time I had to strip it was nerve-racking but now I'm a natural.

"I'm in such a secure environment that there's no need to be nervous. Before I started dancing I took a loan but now that I dance, I don't need to. The money is really good and helps pay my tuition. I'm living at home with my parents and can contribute there too. The security at the club is amazing. I'm really good friends with all the staff and they watch us 24/7, with cameras everywhere. There's no way a customer could ever touch us. We have people upstairs in the rooms monitoring the cameras all the time.

"Our manager is on the floor at all times too and there are security guards who are ready if anyone steps out of line. I never ever feel scared. My parents are very supportive. I've told them exactly what happens and they know that it is run just like any other business. As soon as I graduate my plan is to go to America and audition with another agent. I plan to get as much work as possible in TV, music videos, acting, modelling, singing, dancing and theatre.

"I have been saving money and I'm always dancing, which is a good way of getting better. I train myself when I'm with customers to act different roles, so it's a bit like acting training for me too." 

Research has found that female students are peeling off to fund university courses. The study, conducted by Dr Teela Sanders and Kate Hardy, from Leeds university, revealed that just over one in three lap-dancers were in higher education.

Fourteen per cent were using the work to help fund a degree after earning an average of £48,000 a year. Here, the girls tell why they are shedding their clothes while studying. 

Jaya Rowett, 25 - law, waiting to study medicine 

JAYA, from Plymouth, stripped throughout her law studies. She now wants to do medicine instead. She says: 

"I was over the moon when I got a place at uni to study law. I have a little girl, Paige, aged seven, and the degree was for our future. But I knew it would be expensive. I started at the University of the West of England, then transferred to Exeter. The tuition fees were £3,000 a year.

"I needed to start saving so asked about a bar job at a lap-dancing club called Temptations in Plymouth before I started my course. When I heard how much money I could make stripping I quickly decided it was a better option than pulling pints. My first shift I made £700 and each shift could make me £300 to £800. 

"When I started my degree I decided it would be stupid to stop stripping as I could stay out of debt. I had 40 hours of study a week but went from lectures to lap-dancing, swapping jeans and trainers for sexy dresses and high heels. I never told anyone else on my course what I was doing to make money. 

"As a single mum I didn't lead the same drinking and shagging student lifestyle that a lot of them had, but even so, I was worried they would look down on me. 

"Also, at the end of the course we would be competing for the same jobs so I didn't want them to use it against me. After studying law for two years I realised it wasn't for me. I am reapplying to do medicine, working part-time as a secretary and care assistant while I secure a place. I hope to start next September. My goal is to be a GP. It is a five-year course so I'm planning to lap-dance to pay my way again. 

"Sometimes I think it's a shame I have to strip to make such good money. I'm a smart girl and it can be frustrating the only way to make enough is to get naked. But I'm investing in my family's future. Until I qualify I'll do whatever I have to do to pay for my degree." 

Sarah Finch, 26 - law 

SARAH is studying the second part of her law course at a London university while stripping at a Secrets lap-dancing club at weekends. She is a single mum with a boy of three and comes from Bexleyheath, Kent. She says: 

"I started at Secrets about two months ago, a year and a half into my course. 

"Before stripping I was a florist for five years, then I took a three-year break to be a mum. I decided to do my college course and stripping seemed like a good idea to fund it as it is such good money. I have always been interested in law and I thought it was a good, stable career and a great way to support my son. 

"Working in a strip club crossed my mind because I met a girl who was working as a stripper and earning very good money. But I wondered if I had the personality to do it. I was nervous for the audition because I had never danced before, but once I was on stage it all came naturally. 

"I'm quite secure with my body. The great thing about dancing is you meet so many interesting people from all over the world. And you do need to have good conversation skills. Having brains has been helpful to me. If you have social skills you can talk to people confidently. It never bothered me doing law at the same time as stripping, I just jumped straight into it. I decided I wanted to go down a certain path and change my life. 

"My course buddies don't know about my other life. I keep the two separate as there is no need for them to collide. I do the dancing at weekends and my degree during the week. They run smoothly alongside each other. I don't see stripping as a hindrance to my future career. I have a son to support and this is how I've chosen to do that. 

"It is better than sitting around doing nothing or being on benefits. I'm trying to better my life and I don't see anything wrong with what I have chosen. A lot of my friends and family know about my dancing and are fine with it."