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What Major You Pick Could Determine Who You’ll Marry

Your main reason for getting your degree is probably so that you can learn something, find a good job and be secure in your life, right? Well, you may be on track to find your fiancé, too.


By studying Census records of over 76 million married couples who both have their bachelor’s degree for 2009-2014, TIME labs was able to discover which degree pairings were the most likely to marry, and which were the least. In the majority of cases, individuals with the same degrees were most likely to marry one another.  Performing Arts majors were 38 times more likely to marry each other than any other degrees, while Engineering majors were only 1.8 times more likely. Individuals in degrees with related fields were also likely to be compatible, though. For example, if you’ve got a history degree, you’re probably going to be more compatible with an art historian, English major or foreign language major than anyone else. There are some unexpected compatibilities as well, such as physics and language majors, and computer science majors with undergraduate law majors.

Priceonomics blogger Dan Kopf performed a similar study last year and found similar results, The Washington Post reports. Kopf found that, according to a survey relating to the 2012 census, about half of Americans are married, and about 28 percent of married couples over the age of 22 both have bachelor’s degrees. More than 10 percent of married individuals each had the same major, and theology and religious vocation majors were the most likely to get married to each other. Kopf also found that gender minorities in a major were most likely to find their spouse in that major, like men in nursing or women in engineering.

Of course, your degree probably doesn’t determine your compatibility—you probably just spend a majority of your time with others that share your major. Either way, it’s time to take a look around you; your study buddy could be more in the future.

Sammi is the Lifestyle Editor at HerCampus.com, assisting with content strategy across sections. She's been a member of Her Campus since her Social Media Manager and Senior Editor days at Her Campus at Siena, where she graduated with a degree in Biology of all things. She moonlights as an EMT, and in her free time, she can be found playing post-apocalyptic video games, organizing her unreasonably large lipstick collection, learning "All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor's Version) (From The Vault)" on her guitar, or planning her next trip to Broadway.