{"id":8383,"date":"2022-09-07T13:57:29","date_gmt":"2022-09-07T18:57:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/college-grads-in-u-s-tend-to-partner-with-each-other-especially-if-their-parents-also-graduated-from-college\/"},"modified":"2025-04-23T23:55:38","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T03:55:38","slug":"college-grads-in-u-s-tend-to-partner-with-each-other-especially-if-their-parents-also-graduated-from-college","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2022\/09\/07\/college-grads-in-u-s-tend-to-partner-with-each-other-especially-if-their-parents-also-graduated-from-college\/","title":{"rendered":"College grads in U.S. tend to partner with each other \u2013 especially if their parents also graduated from college"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s well established that college graduates in the United States <a href=\"https:\/\/www.researchgate.net\/publication\/23546179_The_Changing_Role_of_Education_in_the_Marriage_Market_Assortative_Marriage_in_Canada_and_the_United_States_Since_the_1970s\">tend to partner<\/a> with other college graduates. In 2019, 81% of household heads with a bachelor\u2019s degree or more education had a spouse or partner who was also a college graduate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-310-wide\"><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-11978\" href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2022\/09\/07\/college-grads-in-u-s-tend-to-partner-with-each-other-especially-if-their-parents-also-graduated-from-college\/ft_2022-09-07_collegegrad_01-png\/\"><img data-dominant-color=\"d9dfdd\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #d9dfdd;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/09\/ft_2022.09.07_collegegrad_01.png?resize=480,697 480w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/09\/ft_2022.09.07_collegegrad_01.png?resize=620,900 620w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" height=\"450\" width=\"310\" src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/09\/ft_2022.09.07_collegegrad_01.png?w=310\" alt=\"A bar chart showing that most U.S. college grads partner with other college grads; pattern is most pronounced among those whose parents also graduated from college\" class=\"wp-image-11978 not-transparent\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A new Pew Research Center analysis of government data shows that this pattern is even more pronounced for adults whose parents also graduated from college. Some 86% of household heads with a four-year college degree \u2013 and at least one parent with a degree \u2013 have a spouse or partner who is also a college graduate. By comparison, the same is true for a smaller share of household heads who are first-generation college graduates (73%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When first-generation college graduates do partner with another college graduate, it is more likely that their partner will also be a first-generation graduate. Among couples in which both partners have a bachelor\u2019s degree or more education, 52% of first-generation college graduates who are the household head have a spouse or partner who is also a first-generation graduate. This compares with only 31% among \u201ccontinuing-generation\u201d college graduates \u2013 those with at least one parent who graduated from college. Around seven-in-ten continuing-generation household heads (69%) instead are partnered with someone who, like them, has at least one parent with a college degree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-310-wide\"><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-11985\" href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2022\/09\/07\/college-grads-in-u-s-tend-to-partner-with-each-other-especially-if-their-parents-also-graduated-from-college\/ft_2022-09-07_collegegrad_02-png\/\"><img data-dominant-color=\"e1e2de\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #e1e2de;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/09\/ft_2022.09.07_collegegrad_02.png?resize=480,749 480w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/09\/ft_2022.09.07_collegegrad_02.png?resize=620,968 620w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" height=\"484\" width=\"310\" src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/09\/ft_2022.09.07_collegegrad_02.png?w=310\" alt=\"A bar chart showing that in households where both partners have a college degree, about half of first-generation college grads have a spouse or partner who is also first generation\" class=\"wp-image-11985 not-transparent\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n<div style=\"border-width:1px;padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20);--block-gap: inherit\" class=\"wp-block-prc-block-collapsible has-background has-ui-beige-very-light-background-color has-border-color has-ui-beige-dark-border-color\" id=\"how-we-did-this\" data-wp-interactive=\"{&quot;namespace&quot;:&quot;prc-block\\\/collapsible&quot;}\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;collapsibleId&quot;:&quot;how-we-did-this&quot;,&quot;isOpen&quot;:false}\" data-wp-class--is-open=\"context.isOpen\" data-wp-init--scroll-into-view=\"callbacks.onInitScrollIntoView\"><div class=\"wp-block-prc-block-collapsible__title\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.onClick\"><div>How we did this<\/div><button class=\"wp-block-prc-block-collapsible__icon\"><span data-wp-bind--hidden=\"context.isOpen\"><i class=\"icon icon-library__light icon__circle-plus\"><svg style=\"width: 1em; height: 1em;\"><use xlink:href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/plugins\/prc-icon-library\/build\/icons\/sprites\/light.svg#circle-plus\"><\/use><\/svg><\/i><\/span><span data-wp-bind--hidden=\"!context.isOpen\" hidden><i class=\"icon icon-library__light icon__circle-minus\"><svg style=\"width: 1em; height: 1em;\"><use xlink:href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/plugins\/prc-icon-library\/build\/icons\/sprites\/light.svg#circle-minus\"><\/use><\/svg><\/i><\/span><\/button><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-prc-block-collapsible__content\">\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This Pew Research Center analysis of couples in the United States utilizes data from the 2019 Federal Reserve Board\u2019s Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF). The SCF has been conducted triennially since 1983, and 2019 is the most recent available. Since 2016, the SCF has asked the household head about the highest level of education of the head\u2019s parents. For couples, the highest level of education of the parents of the spouse or partner is also ascertained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The SCF is designed to be representative of the nation\u2019s households or \u201cprimary economic units.\u201d This analysis is restricted to couples in which one member is the head of the household, ages 25 to 64, and has at least a bachelor\u2019s degree. The full public use file for the 2019 SCF has about 5,800 households. This analysis is based on 1,301 couples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Center\u2019s analysis follows conventional methods and examines household heads older than 24 because formal education is often not completed until age 25. Preliminary analysis revealed that first-generation college graduates tend to be significantly older than continuing-generation college graduates. Age is an important determinant of earnings and wealth and thus an upper limit of age 64 was imposed to reduce the age bias in comparing first- and continuing-generation college graduates. We also only included household heads where both of the parents\u2019 education levels were known.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the SCF, the head of the household is the male in an opposite-sex couple or the older person in a same-sex couple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The median or typical household income figures presented are in 2019 dollars, adjusted for the size of the household and scaled to reflect a three-person household.<\/p>\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These patterns may partly reflect the differences in the types of colleges and universities that first- and continuing-generation college students attend. Among recent bachelor\u2019s degree recipients, those whose parents have high levels of educational attainment are more likely to have graduated from a private, nonprofit four-year institution (rather than a public or for-profit institution), according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/nces.ed.gov\/pubsearch\/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2020341\">recent survey by the National Center for Education Statistics<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The economic outcomes of college-educated couples show that partnering with a continuing-generation college graduate tends to boost the household\u2019s economic fortunes. In 2019, the median household income of a couple in which both partners were first-generation college graduates was about $122,200. By comparison, in couples where both partners were continuing-generation college graduates, the median household income was about $180,200.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-310-wide\"><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-11988\" href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2022\/09\/07\/college-grads-in-u-s-tend-to-partner-with-each-other-especially-if-their-parents-also-graduated-from-college\/ft_2022-09-07_collegegrad_03-png\/\"><img data-dominant-color=\"e5e7e7\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #e5e7e7;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/09\/ft_2022.09.07_collegegrad_03.png?resize=480,841 480w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/09\/ft_2022.09.07_collegegrad_03.png?resize=620,1086 620w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" height=\"543\" width=\"310\" src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/09\/ft_2022.09.07_collegegrad_03.png?w=310\" alt=\"A bar chart showing that couples in which both partners have college-educated parents tend to fare better financially than those who don\u2019t\" class=\"wp-image-11988 not-transparent\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is true in part because an individual\u2019s earnings are connected not only with their own educational attainment, but also <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/25518703\/\">with their parents\u2019<\/a>, meaning that continuing-generation college graduates tend to have higher earnings, on average, than first-generation graduates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Perhaps unsurprisingly, the net worth or wealth of college-educated couples also tends to be higher if the college graduates each have college-educated parents. The median net worth of two continuing-generation college graduates was about $569,700 in 2019, markedly outpacing the median wealth of two first-generation college graduates ($236,600). Couples with college-educated parents tend to have wealthier parents, and their parents <a href=\"https:\/\/www.federalreserve.gov\/publications\/files\/scf20.pdf\">likely give greater amounts of wealth<\/a> to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The higher household incomes of couples including a continuing-generation college graduate partly reflect the higher educational attainment of these graduates. Continuing-generation college graduates are more likely than first-generation college graduates to <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/social-trends\/2021\/05\/18\/first-generation-college-graduates-lag-behind-their-peers-on-key-economic-outcomes\/\">complete an advanced degree<\/a>, and adults with advanced degrees have higher earnings, on average. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S0276562420300081\">Recent research<\/a> shows, however, that even after controlling for the attainment of advanced degrees, continuing-generation college graduates tend to earn more than first-generation college graduates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 2019, 81% of household heads with a bachelor\u2019s degree or more education had a spouse or partner who was also a college graduate. 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