Waiting to get married until after college benefits students

If undergraduate students wait to get married until after they get a degree, their future and their wedding plans are more likely to be successful.

I am 19 years old and I feel like I have so much to accomplish before marriage, like traveling around the world and maintaining a steady job. So instead of worrying about school while planning a wedding, I’m going to wait until I graduate, and other students should do the same.

A marriage is more likely to succeed if the couple has graduated from college first, said Stephanie Sternberg in CNN article “Saying ‘I do’ while studying at the U.”

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 18 percent of undergraduate students choose to get married before getting a degree. Marriage is a good life decision, but it would be a better decision to be able to afford a nice wedding and not have to worry about schooling while living a married life.

Social environments change over the years, like teenagers getting married, or young adults working instead of earning a degree. It’s why students have come up with different perspectives about marriage, but what does not change is the financial opportunities that single students get, like the cost to rent a single dorm, which is about 250 dollars a month, compared an apartment for a married couple, which is about 600 to 800 dollars a month.

As a single student I save about 2000 dollars a semester by living at home. I can afford groceries and other personal expenses while working two minimum wage jobs. It would be hard to be working a minimum wage job, or one close to minimum wage, and trying to afford school and maintaining a household.

It’s financially more difficult for married students today than five years ago, said Kelly Roberts, a marriage and family therapist and clinical instructor at Oklahoma State University in the article “Saying ‘I do’ while studying at the U.” She cited in the article the decreasing number of student loans available and how married students are taking on more jobs to cover expenses.

I have two jobs and it is tough to keep up with a busy schedule and work at the same time, just taking care of myself, which would be more difficult for married couples.

When a couple graduates and they both have stable jobs, they are more likely to be able to afford a dream wedding with all of its perks like a high quality dress, venue, reception and all the details in between without having to pay for tuition, books and other bills.