I’m just guessing here, but I think college grads probably marry later, and marrying later is what leads to greater long term stability. Young people may grow apart as they mature. If they start families younger, with fewer resources, that can be a huge strain. Maybe older people might also be better able to spot the “right one” after years of dating. I’m really, really happy I didn’t marry the guys I dated in my teens and 20s. My first boyfriend had amazing hair (oh I thought I would DIE when he dumped me), but attempted to join the Catholic ministry before quitting to join a cult. Now that I’m done with college (and law school) I’m living with a wonderful, mentally stable man who buys me flowers. I’m not sure it’s directly related to my education though.

I’m going with correlation, not causation, for the reasons that both Kate and Jenna mention, along with the ones in the article (might be more financially stable, not more moral)

I would imagine those who went to college had the means; the money. Many who don’t go to college grow up in low-income households and broken homes..they grow up with an entirely different value system and as youth, they experience love and marriage first hand by what they have in their home, that is what they’ll likely mimic in their own marriages until or unless they have discovered the patterns and learned to break them.

Heather, I think you are misunderstanding what the authors mean when they say “values.” This has become such a loaded term in the culture wars that it’s easy to conclude they’re making some sort of right wing argument about immorality. No. As Stat Girl said, they’re simply talking about shifting social norms. Social norms are very much related to the economic forces that play such a major role in shaping them; you can’t really separate them. So in essence you and the researchers are saying the same thing.

As a 20 year old college student on my way to law school, I am dating a 27 year old who has not finished college and recently told me he has no desire to. After 2 years of dating this has definitely set off some red flags. He seems to be the type of person that starts things but has no intention to finish them. So I understand the “values” thing, I don’t believe that one of us is morally superior to the other, I just believe that our priorities are completely out of sync. After witnessing all of the troubles he has been through finding jobs and keeping them, paying off debts he accrued when he was being irresponsible in his early 20s, etc. I’m utterly frustrated. I think this might be another interesting thing to look at… a couple with one college grad and one high school grad?

Most people that I know are divorced….Some have remarried for the second or third time….They are all college educated; some even have doctorate degrees. The people who only graduated from high school have been married for 30+ years; without dealing with infidelity, drugs, or alcohol abuse. The high school grads seem to have more of a mutual respect for one another and the higher educated people (couples) appeared to be more competitive and even sometimes envious of their partner’s success. This lead to resentments and caused some infidelity, drugs, and alcohol abuse within the marriages, causing them to end in divorce.