When you were younger, your parents would tell you the story of how they met, maybe by luck, coincidence or fairytale ending. Then they add, "We got married at age 20 (or so), but that wasn't young at the time." I look at that age now and can only think how stressful that is, committing yourself to someone when you aren't even out of college yet? How can you do it?
I'm sure the trend hasn't completely worn itself out because I've met a handful of students in my classes who are actually engaged now. The other day, I turned to see yet another half-carat rock shimmering on a female student's ring finger in my English class. I automatically felt a little uneasy, not for her, but for young fiancées everywhere. Hopefully these students I've met are ready for the institution of marriage for better or for worse because on the other side the nation, students are getting married to lower their tuition costs.
The other day, I looked at Twitter to see a tweet that said "Students marry for in-state tuition" from HuffPostCollege. Students who attend the University of California, Berkley out of state pay an additional $22,000 a year more than in-state students. According to The New York Times, nine couples were found who actually got married to lower their residency costs. Berkley requires students to meet three prerequisites before they can establish their residency: to actually inhabit in the residency, intent to stay and to be financially independent from their parents, which happens to be a two year long application process.
If students decide to marry instead, they can claim financial independence much faster. Their parents must also go along with it and not claim their kids are dependent on their taxes. How are these spouses finding one another? Well, Facebook is one way.
A Berkeley student applying from the Midwest posted that she needed a husband and got a response. The "couple" married in 2007 and divorced in 2009 when they graduated. The marriage had saved her $50,000 in tuition costs. I can only guess she didn't file for irreconcilable differences.
The university reported Berkley had 416 undergraduates who were married out of the 16,000 who were a part of the financial aid program. Berkley isn't the only one spreading the "love." Other universities can now participate courtesy of whypaytuition.com. Students who sign up for the registered site can gain independence through this matchmaking process and save money on tuition once they are married. However, the site is not exactly blooming with users considering only 56 students have registered for the service. Now people get married for green cards and tuition. Can we simply assume convenience trumps romance?
In light of Valentine's Day, the holiday that allows for singles to be cynics, for Hallmark to make major profit and for couples to fret over what they're going to exchange, think of a tradition older than the love of saving money, the Upham Arch.
Next time you walk under the Upham Arch, think of the rumored tradition that couples who kiss under the arch's lantern at the stroke of midnight are destined to marry. Girlfriend or boyfriend or not, that still sounds more appealing than "Wanna get married to save some money?"
Yes, most of us will experience The Break-Up sort of ending instead of A Cinderella Story. That's just life. It isn't a fairytale or an episode of The Bachelor. Saving cash may have its perks, but not when you have to put your status as divorcée once you're done with college tuition.
Excuse me for the sarcasm on this one. Feb. 14 just happens to be my birthday. Guess we can't win them all, can we?
Enjoy what you're reading?
Signup for our newsletter
Read More
How one professor and her classes are preserving Oxford’s Black history
By Sean Scott | March 20, 2024Jazma Sutton, an assistant professor of history, teaches The Black Midwest (HST 350Q) and Black Women in America (HST 450D) classes. In both courses, she has students working with the Smith Library of Regional History and Miami’s archives to document and preserve Black history in Oxford.
Miami faculty members recount Freedom Summer in new documentary
By Luke Macy | February 25, 2022After seven years of work, “Training for Freedom,” a documentary highlighting Oxford’s involvement in the Freedom Summer of 1964, premiered on PBS Western Reserve on Valentine’s Day.
“Documenting the COVID-19 Pandemic”: History in the making
By Alice Momany | August 29, 2021In March 2020, Miami University’s archives launched “Documenting the COVID-19 Pandemic,” a collection focused on life during the COVID-19 pandemic.