When senior history major Greg Shebesta gets home from class, he’s greeted by his 10-pound, six-month-old Maltese/poodle mix Cookie. And he’s also embraced by his wife, Katie, a senior public health major.

The couple, both in their mid-20s, met six years ago while both were enrolled at the University of Southern Illinois-Edwardsville. After dating for a time, Greg transferred to NIU, while Katie stayed behind.

Two years later, Katie transferred to NIU as well. Since then, they engaged, were married and added a new member to their family as a wedding present to themselves – Cookie.

“We didn’t have to go in debt to have a wedding. We figured we might as well just do it now,” Greg said of why they chose to marry while still in college. “We had been engaged for a year and a half before we married.”

While their marriage wouldn’t have been out of the ordinary in the past, that’s not the case today.

On average, men and women get married for the first time at the ages of 28 and 26, respectively, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Dan House, director of institutional research for Finance and Facilities said there is no data available on how many NIU students are married, but nationally, seven percent of college students are married, according to the U.S. Census.

Though many reasons exist as to why 93 percent of college students aren’t married, Blanca Rojas, a sophomore nutrition and dietetics major, said that some students simply aren’t ready.

“It depends on the person. It depends on the situation,” she said.

Rojas said her cousin was able to graduate college after enduring the death of the cousin’s husband, all while taking care of a child. As for Rojas, she said she isn’t in any hurry to walk down the aisle.

“To me, obviously college is first,” she said. “Then getting married and having kids is later on. It’s a different responsibility you’re taking on.”

The Shebestas were able to have a wedding because they had the money saved, Greg said, making them different from most college students, who aren’t traditionally well off.

And rather than getting hitched, some students may choose to live the “college-life” of partying and meeting members of the opposite sex. Greg said it helped that he is older than most students, having gotten that lifestyle out of his system years ago.

While being married in college isn’t without its minor complications, such as coordinating holidays and not having a lot of money, since he found the right person, Greg figured, why wait?

He added that Cookie probably won’t be the last addition to the Shebesta family.

“We’re planning on it a few years after we graduate, after we get settled,” he said of having kids.