this is "nightline." >> tonight, by day they're students. but by night, you can find them here. a new generation of women and men. >> this is a great way to make money. you go on stage, you perform. >> raking in tuition money by stripping for college. >> my parents. >> plus, big fad diets. from gwyneth paltrow to zooey deschanel, celebrities squaring off gluten. along with millions of other americans. but is it any healthier to go gluten-free? the latest craze feeding a multibillion-dollar industry now facing some tough questions. and -- ♪ encore performance.

michael jackson appears live at the billboard music awards with a brand new song. how did that happen? but first, the "nightline" five. ♪ ♪ [ barks ]

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good evening. the average price tag for a year of college now over $30,000. so for many students that can mean years of massive debt. but you're about to meet some enterprising young women and men who've chosen a different path. one that involves a few nights a week of industrious work. and did i mention it includes taking their clothes off? here's my "nightline" co-anchor juju chang. >> most of my classes they're discussions -- >> reporter: maggie looks very much like the straight-a straight-laced student she is. >> i've got tons of papers to do. >> reporter: dino is majoring in international trade. both are studying hard for college. but for now -- ♪ this is how they pay their tuition. they're part of a new generation of students putting themselves through college by taking their clothes off. and they're unapologetic about it. >> essentially, you're a student

by day and a stripper by night. >> yep. sometimes a student by night and a stripper by day. it depends. >> reporter: double major, spanish, poly sci. she plans to graduate debt-free. every other weekend she takes a three-hour train ride to manhattan. >> sometimes i'll go straight from work and i'll sleep on the train. >> reporter: to the bright lights big city dance club called scores. fellow dancer jade says she's studying for five finals. >> they're like you don't belong in a place like this. >> yes. they'll be like you're too pretty to work at a place like this. no. we just want to make three times the amount of money we're going to make when we graduate. >> there are guys that come in for company and they want the girl next door. i'm the girl next door. >> there are some women who would feel like oh, you should use your brains and not your body. >> this takes a lot of brains. >> in what way? >> it takes a lot of brains. i think that you -- a girl can

be really pretty and not make any money in this field or like she cannot be that pretty and make a lot of money because so much of it is about interpersonal skills. >> reporter: with college bills up to $60,000 a year, today's grads are saddled with crushing debt. economists say it's actually slowing down our economy because young adults can't afford to buy big-ticket items. maggie found a provocative solution working just four nights a week. >> how much do you make a year? >> i make about $180,000 a year. >> incredible. that's what like, you know, a first-year law associate would make. more. >> reporter: critics argue taking it all off for the allure of easy money can sometimes derail your pursuit of higher education. >> you can make a really pretty good living stripping at scores full-time. why go to college? don't tell your mother i asked you that question. >> you can only really do it until you're so old. so it's not something that's

really sustainable. you're supposed to do it until you get to where you need to go in life, and then that's -- it's exhausted. >> it's a stepping stone for you. >> right. >> it's not a career. >> and i enjoy it. i do enjoy it. but it's not what i want my life pursuit to be. >> reporter: turns out there are currently 24 women at scores alone who are putting themselves through school. on the other side of the city at show palace we meet this 18-year-old criminal justice major who goes by the stage name egypt. >> proving to people that strippers are in no way the stereotypical slut. we work hard. even if it's showing our bodies, we work hard. we're about our business. >> reporter: egypt started dancing after reading about belle knox, the duke university student who suffered severe backlash on campus after she went public about doing porn to pay for college. >> i, like most other people, have been watching porn since i was --

>> since you were how old? >> since i was 12 years old. >> are you serious? >> yeah. >> reporter: the story went viral. >> she's 18 and doing porn. why not me? you know, become a stripper. >> reporter: which is why egypt was so eager to chat with us when the duke porn star came to her strip club. >> i want to be a lawyer. >> yeah. >> reporter: but their eccentric answer to the college debt problem is not always met with enthusiasm. >> my parents, when they found out, were totally horrified. >> do you ever worry that your studies and your brain power will be undercut by the fact that you take your clothes off on the side? >> i think that i wouldn't want to work for anyone that would judge me based on that. and i think that times are changing. >> reporter: times may be changing, but attitudes don't change so quickly. >> there's still a good segment of our society who thinks it's degrading for a woman to be a

stripper. >> it can be. there are times that it feels like that. >> reporter: when does that happen? >> when guys are disrespectful. they think that we are degrading ourselves by doing this job at all. so they don't have a problem in degrading us further. >> reporter: maggie says stripping affords her the precious time to study. she makes more in one night at the club than working 40 hours a week waiting tables. >> i have felt so much more disrespected as a waitress than i've ever felt as a dancer. because your job is to serve them. and in this like your job is to accompany them, to entertain them. like it's glamorous. >> reporter: she may find it glamorous at times, but maggie point out what many agree is a double standard in the way strippers are treated. >> definitely notice the double standard there. like with men being fawned over by all kinds of women like they're semi-gods, you know, like it's definitely a status thing. it's like oh, my gosh, you're hot enough to be a male stripper.

>> reporter: in fact, that's exactly what happens to dino. >> my friends think it's awesome. they're like oh, i wish i could do that. they really admire the fact that i do that. >> reporter: dino performs at new york's hunk-a-mania. but he's one of the few in college. >> what made you think, all right, i'll try stripping? >> well, you know, not to sound clocky but you just look in the mirror, there's a great way to make money, it's easy, it's fun, it's not hard strenuous work. you go out, meet girls. you go on stage, you perform. >> reporter: and his buddies all whoop it up when they discover his extracurricular activity. >> nobody is dising you or disrespecting you for doing it? >> no. not me. 500 girls a night, you know, pay me to dance and show them a good time. >> reporter: you're living the dream. >> pretty much. >> never a good idea, you know, to strip to make money to pay for college. >> reporter: former college counselor robert franic says there are other options. >> there are so many financial aid resources available to students and families to pay for

college. >> reporter: this year alone there's $180 billion available in state and federal aid, and making too much money on the side could actually disqualify you. >> so when we think about it, making sure that you're a great college student is your job. i think it's so easy for so many students if they're making so much money for them to lose sight about their goals of being in school. >> reporter: but one thing these women would agree on is they have a limited number of years in this line of work where youth is prized. >> i'm not looking forward to like the end of this. like when i'm out of school and i'm living on less and i'm working so much harder. >> reporter: which is why they're busy taking advantage of what some now call the g-string scholarship. for "nightline" i'm juju chang in new york. next, miley cyrus did it. lady gaga did it. but is a glaut uten-free diet ry any healthier for the rest of us? we're separating diet fact from fiction. even get through the day.

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industry that's followed. but wait. is giving up gluten actually a good thing for most people? here's abc's terry moran. >> reporter: by now you've probably heard about it. going gluten-free. the latest health craze. celebrities like gwyneth paltrow and zooey deschanel, they're gluten-free. grocery stores are laden with gluten-free products. it's also big business. very big. the u.s. gluten-free market predicted to reach $6.6 billion by 2017. but what do people really know about gluten anyway? >> okay. does he know what gluten is? >> reporter: jimmy kimmel asked some gluten-free eaters if they know what gluten is. >> but what is gluten? >> this is pretty sad because i don't know. >> uh, it is part i believe of the wheat that -- i really don't know. >> reporter: answer? no. the seth rogen movie "this is the end" turned the whole

gluten-free movement into comedy. >> gluten's a vague term. it's used to kathize things that are bad. calories. that's a gluten. fat, that's a gluten. >> somebody just told you you probably shouldn't eat gluten. you're like oh, i guess i shouldn't eat gluten. >> gluten is bad [ bleep ] and i'm not eating it. >> reporter: many celebrities hate gluten. the food industry is making billions off people eliminating gluten from their diets. and now get this. a new study finds tham peopt ma people who say they are sensitive or intolerant to gluten probably aren't. >> this has really become a fad. >> reporter: dr. suzanne steinbaum is director of women's heart health at lennox hill hospital in new york city. >> people have grabbed on to the gluten-free issue because they think it's healthy. but this is a trend. and it's going to leave as quickly as it came. >> reporter: before it goes let's at least find out what is gluten? well, it's a combination of two proteins found in wheat, rye,

barley, and other grains and many processed foods, soups, salad dressings, and sauces too. and there are people, about 1 in 133, who are born with a genetic disorder called celiac disease that makes them truly unable to tolerate gluten. like elisabeth hasselbeck. >> this is my special refrigerator. i feel like my name should just be on here because this is where i hang out. >> reporter: back in 2012 we talked with elisabeth, then co-host of "the view," now with fox news, about her struggle with celiac disease, going gluten-free, and how much better she feels now. >> everything from bread crumbs to cookies to bagels, it's there. pie crust is there. those that are adopting this for fashion or trend, they're going to probably like it. you know, they're going to see that there are many more options than they thought. >> do you think i'd be better off reducing or eliminating gluten from my diet? >> i think that if you gave yourself a challenge when you went gluten-free you would find that your energy levels would

soar. and that you would like how you felt every single day. >> reporter: many people who don't have celiac disease but say they suffer from gluten sensitivity have gone gluten-free and they love it. but that is exactly what the recent study conducted in australia debunks. researchers gave people a high-gluten diet and a gluten-free diet, making sure there were no other hard to digest compounds in the food. and it turns out that people who are not diagnosed with celiac disease but say they're sensitive to gluten couldn't tell the difference in a blind test. so if people stop eating gluten and still feel better, are they imagining it? >> i'm 100% sure that gluten intolerance is a real thing. i have it myself. i have thousands of patients who have it. now, there's a spectrum. some people are severely intolerant. some people have celiac disease, which is extremely severe intolerance. but some people have a minor intolerance, but they still have an intolerance.

it's real. i see it every day in my practice. and i have to believe my patients. >> what we know now is it might not be from the gluten but it actually might be from the shortened difficult to digest carbohydrate. so in going gluten-free, taking these carbohydrates out of the diet, people started feeling better, and that began the fad. >> but doctors who work with people claiming gluten sensitivity reject this new study. they say it was too small, just 37 people, and they are certain they are treating something real. sometimes it's hard to know what to eat. or not to eat. for "nightline" i'm terry moran. next, a live performance from a dead celebrity? how michael jackson stole the show at the billboard music awards. vo: once upon a time

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last night's billboard music awards to perform his new song. and he's not the first dead celebrity to make a surprise appearance. abc's david wright explains how. ♪ dance through the night ♪ dance to the beat of the moon ♪ >> reporter: the king of pop moonwalks again. at the billboard music awards last night this brand new michael jackson number stole the show. ♪ some of the fans were in tears. ♪ >> it's magic. that's the best way to explain it. it's michael magic. >> reporter: a 3-d avatar performing on stage. not a hologram but a virtual michael jackson, according to the producers. >> i like to call it an illusion because it is really the illusion and the magic of michael. and for me the essence, the energy of michael is really brought to life. >> reporter: it's not just michael. some of the dancers are avatars

too. others are real but probably were still in diapers when "thriller" was at the top of the charts. >> the majority of these guys were probably born around "thriller" or the "bad" album. >> zombie superstars becoming a fan. from elvis performing a duty with celine dion. to tupac rapping with snoop dogg at coachella. ♪ ♪ [ bleep ] politicians are trying it too. already a virtual al gore appeared at the earth summit in tokyo. >> i love i can stand here on the stage in tokyo and speak to you in holographic form. >> reporter: and the new indian prime minister made several campaign stops this way. that guy won the election. the basic technology, an illusion that predates television. >> hi, david. >> hi, david. >> one of us is real. the other is an illusion. >> an old 19th century magic trick. but with state-of-the-art

digital technology. >> in theory, you could bring anyone back from the dead. >> or just have a conversation with yourself. >> reporter: the illusion, created by an invisible screen positioned at a 45 degree angle. the image, called pepper's ghost, floats on the screen. >> pepper's ghost is an age-old technique. however, this is the 21st century application of it. >> reporter: we filmed this at a rival company not involved in the m.j. performance. ceo alky david says the technology used last night was similar to this. the jackson estate insists their process was different. but in theory, the sky's the limit. >> you could have babe ruth greet everybody coming into yankee stadium. or run 100 meters against usain bolt. >> reporter: in theory it would be possible to bring back all sorts of iconic moments. judy garland from the other side of that rainbow. ♪ over the rainbow frank sinatra from the far side of the moon. ♪ fill my heart with song or as we saw last night, michael jackson. a bit of musical magic, making

someone who's already immortal seem to come back to life. i'm david right for "nightline." >> it is kind of amazing. thanks for watching abc news. world news now is coming up with overnight breaking news. tune in to "good morning america" tomorrow. and as always, we're online at abcnews.com. good night. >> air-conditioners, fans, barbecues, even dead batteries. dangerous and deadly to you? tomorrow world news goes in search of the littlest things in homes right now that are sparking so many deadly fires across america