A growing number of university and A-level students are turning to extreme means as a way of funding their education. The National Union of Students (NUS) found that an alarming number of students are working as escorts, gambling or volunteering to take part in medical experiments to bolster their income. According to the NUS, the increased cost of living and the reduction in graduate jobs and educational maintenance allowance (EMA) is behind such drastic action. The NUS predicts that 15% of women working in lap-dancing clubs are students. Responding to the release of this information, a spokesman for the Department for Education stated that there is currently over one hundred and eighty million pounds of financial support available each year for the most vulnerable students, but further support from the universities and colleges themselves is required, in the form of bursaries, for any real change to take place.