Mike Isaac

Recent Posts by Mike Isaac

Facebook Study Tracks Matriculation to Matrimony

College bound? You could end up graduating with more than just a degree.

Nearly one-third of all married United States college graduates on Facebook went to the same college as their partners, according to a new study from Facebook’s data science team. And aside from that, about 15 percent of that same demographic ended up marrying someone who went to the same high school.

A few caveats here: Facebook only counted those over 25 when surveying, and if a couple shares both high school and college, then only the high school is counted.

Some of the findings seem to be common sense. There’s at least some correlation, for instance, between how conservative and religious the student body of the school is, and how often graduates of said schools end up marrying one another. Perhaps “commitment” as an ideal plays into that likelihood.

Worth noting, too, that those who went to high school in urban areas aren’t as likely to marry someone who attended the same high school, especially compared to those from rural areas. Again, seemingly a common sense thing: The higher the population density, I’d guess the diminishing likelihood of meeting a mate at a more populous school.

The colleges to hit if you’re looking to settle down afterward? If you’re a woman, schools like the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Michigan Technological University and the U.S. Air Force Academy are your best bets; about 60 percent or more of women who graduated from these schools also had spouses who studied there as well. For men, the top schools included those such as Harding University, Martin Luther College and Brigham Young University (most, again, are religiously affiliated).

Now if only Facebook could tell us how many of those couples make it for the long haul.

Latest Video

View all videos »

Search »

I think the NSA has a job to do and we need the NSA. But as (physicist) Robert Oppenheimer said, “When you see something that is technically sweet, you go ahead and do it and argue about what to do about it only after you’ve had your technical success. That is the way it was with the atomic bomb.”

— Phil Zimmerman, PGP inventor and Silent Circle co-founder, in an interview with Om Malik