Many people spend a large portion of their lives imagining how their wedding days will be.

In recent years, however, fewer people are viewing marriage as an option.

In a recent study on today.com, data studies focus on how money and educational background are becoming the determining factors in whether people decide to get married.

Because of this, many people getting married often wait until they graduate college to do so. Those who wait until after they graduate often gravitate towards those who also have graduated college.

“There is now a higher bar for marriage than in the past,” Susan Brown, chair of the sociology department, said in an email.

People who decide to get married after college tend to want to marry someone on the same economic platform as them.

“Marriage is like a capstone experience, an indicator of having made it in life,” Brown said. “Marriage is now a personal achievement.”

Financial reasons play a large role in why many couples are deciding to wait to get married.

“Young people want to be settled before marriage, to have completed their education and already have a steady job, to be secure financially,” Brown said.

Some students agree with this and think that waiting is the best option.

“I would want to wait after college to get married,” freshman Sydney Karhoff said. “I would want to have my degree first.”

While other students agree waiting until graduating college to get married is a good idea, it may be for different reasons.

”I’m still selfish right now and I don’t want the responsibility of having to worry about anyone else besides myself,” junior Tianna Newby said. “It just doesn’t make sense to me.”

More people are starting to marry those that are in the same professional field as them because it is something they have in common and can relate to.

Increasingly, individuals choose spouses with similar educational and career paths, Brown said.

One statistic that students may be frightened by is the high divorce rates that influence some people to choose not to get married or choose to wait.

“Many people are fearful of divorce and thus delay marriage,” Brown said. “A lot of people today decide to cohabit instead of marry to avoid the possibility of divorce.”

Economic reasons are an important influence on both marriage and divorce.

“Economic factors are closely tied to divorce,” Brown said. “Financial stability promotes marital stability.”

Financial and economic reasons are not the only things that keep people from getting married. Some people just simply do not want to get married.

“There are more options than marriage these days, people can live together or live alone,” Brown said. “Marriage is no longer compulsory.”