College educated people 'more likely to get married and stay married'

Washington Post:  Researchers increasingly are finding a connection between marriage and education. In 2009, 31 percent of brides had a college degree, up from 21 percent in 1996.
“Marriage has become a much more selective institution in today’s society,” said W. Bradford Wilcox, director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia. “People who are college-educated, more affluent or more religious are more likely to get married and stay married. People who are not are less likely to get married in the first place, and if they do marry, they’re more likely to divorce.”
The Marriage Project has found that people without a college degree are three times as likely to divorce in the first 10 years as those with a college degree. 

Of course, we knew this.  But this scenario does seem to have the makings of an increasingly divided society.

Low divorce rates correlate with high education levels

It's probably no surprise that lower divorce rates correlate with higher education levels which correlate with higher income.  Many southern states, having lower education rates, have the highest divorce levels.  I find it slightly humorous to see the state that is home to Jersey Shore, the television  show where debauchery reigns, has the lowest divorce rate in the country.  This chart comes from Jacob Langenfeld at New Geography.

Wyoming is an interesting case.

An outlier for divorce seems to be Wyoming whose high divorce rate (a 2008-2009 average of 16%) places it outside of the bunch in many of the graphs. This may be because of the state’s “quickie” divorces. An article by Wyoming News discusses the reality of Wyoming’s label as “Splitsville” where many couples unhappy with their marriages travel to call it quits. The state lacks laws that force a couple to separate for some time prior to the official divorce, making the state more appealing for those who don’t wish to remain together. With all of the proper paper work in line, a couple could easily end it in Wyoming. Where Las Vegas is the home for a fast espousal, Cheyenne may be the new destination for a speedy separation.