In addition to gender, several other characteristics of bachelor’s degree recipients were related to their patterns of marriage, parenthood, graduate enrollment and attainment, and employment. These characteristics include age at graduation, undergraduate field of study, and undergraduate GPA.

First, older graduates were more likely to have married before earning their bachelor’s degree. Among women who had not married by the time they graduated, women under 30 were more likely than women who were older to marry within the next 4 years. For both men and women, those ages 25–29 at graduation were more likely than those in other age groups to become parents within 4 years of graduation. Age was a factor for graduate enrollment as well, with both men and women who were age 22 or younger when they earned their bachelor’s degree more likely than older graduates to enter graduate school within 4 years after graduation.

Second, graduates who majored in professional fields² as a group were more likely to be married and to have children before graduating, compared with graduates who majored in the arts and sciences. Those majoring in the arts and sciences were more likely than those in professional fields to enroll in a graduate program. Probably due to their higher levels of graduate enrollment, bachelor’s degree recipients who majored in the arts and sciences were less likely to be employed during the first 4 years following graduation.

Finally, graduates with higher GPAs were more likely to be married and have children before graduating. Those with higher GPAs were also more likely to enroll in a graduate program, enroll in a first-professional or doctoral program, and attain a graduate degree within 4 years of bachelor’s degree receipt.