Campus Report

Notre Dame Marriage Pact · 2024 ·

The time has come, Notre Dame.

We thought we’d share a bit about Notre Dame’s romantic playing field——just so you know what you’re up against.

Our analysis is built upon anonymized and aggregated data from the Notre Dame Marriage Pact. It will never be sold or shared for commercial purposes. You can read more about our principles and practices here.

The more the major

Your major, your concentration, your greatest disappointment to your parents. And our favorite way to slice and dice the campus. Sit back and enjoy judging all the majors that aren’t your own.

Mathematics majors would rather fail a test than cheat

And for that, we salute them. Here’s how different majors answered the question: “I would rather fail an exam than cheat on it”

	Strongly disagree Strongly agree
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Mathematics	0.04	0.07	0.18	0.18	0.16	0.24	0.13	x̄=4.60	n=45
Biochemistry	0.05	0.13	0.16	0.10	0.21	0.18	0.18	x̄=4.53	n=62
Physics	0.07	0.05	0.32	0.00	0.20	0.24	0.12	x̄=4.41	n=41
Mechanical Engineering	0.07	0.15	0.24	0.09	0.16	0.17	0.12	x̄=4.10	n=206
Neuroscience and Behavior	0.07	0.19	0.21	0.11	0.17	0.13	0.11	x̄=3.98	n=300
Computer Science	0.11	0.15	0.22	0.14	0.16	0.11	0.11	x̄=3.86	n=201
Political Science	0.08	0.18	0.25	0.13	0.11	0.13	0.12	x̄=3.86	n=214
Economics	0.11	0.21	0.22	0.10	0.14	0.12	0.09	x̄=3.66	n=250
Computer Engineering	0.15	0.13	0.21	0.15	0.21	0.09	0.06	x̄=3.66	n=47
Finance	0.13	0.22	0.19	0.13	0.14	0.09	0.10	x̄=3.60	n=595

Finance majors are running for the hills

What’s going on in there? Someone check in on them. Everyone else, read up on what your sane friends are up to.

Film, Television, and Theatre majors might be open to being open

We asked if you were open to nonmonogamous relationships—here’s what you said, by major.

	1 – no way the more the merrier – 7
Pre-Health	1.07	n=67
Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics	1.09	n=76
Neuroscience and Behavior	1.13	n=300
Finance	1.25	n=595
Economics	1.32	n=250
Design	1.51	n=63
Film, Television, and Theatre	1.58	n=48

Topics to avoid

at the dinner table

In other words: politics, money, and religion. But really——who are we without them?

Take a look below to gather fodder for your next divisive discussion.

There’s gold in them there hills

Here’s how you answered the question “I can find it within myself to love someone if they’re rich enough.”

	Strongly disagree Strongly agree
Physics	2.17	n=41
Mathematics	2.42	n=45
Neuroscience and Behavior	2.73	n=300
Finance	2.78	n=595
Economics	2.89	n=250
Marketing	3.03	n=138
Chemical Engineering	3.05	n=150

Protestant students want religious kids

Something to know if you fall in love with them. Here’s how each religion answered: ”It’s important my kids be raised religious.”

	Strongly disagree Strongly agree
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Protestant	0.03	0.04	0.07	0.07	0.10	0.21	0.48	x̄=5.71	n=146
Catholic	0.01	0.03	0.06	0.14	0.22	0.19	0.34	x̄=5.48	n=3003
Christian	0.02	0.05	0.07	0.20	0.21	0.17	0.27	x̄=5.11	n=301
Spiritual	0.26	0.24	0.24	0.16	0.07	0.03	0.00	x̄=2.64	n=88
Agnostic	0.31	0.28	0.20	0.16	0.04	0.01	0.00	x̄=2.39	n=267
Atheist	0.58	0.26	0.08	0.07	0.01	0.00	0.00	x̄=1.68	n=99

31% of Democrats wouldn’t date a Republican

Breaking down the biggest political beefs: Each box indicates the percentage of the political identity listed to the left who reported they don’t want their partner to have the political identity listed above.

	Liberal	Democrat	Apolitical	Independent	Conservative	Republican
Liberal	0.02	0.01	0.05	0.00	0.23	0.31
Democrat	0.02	0.03	0.09	0.03	0.22	0.31
Apolitical	0.02	0.02	0.01	0.02	0.04	0.08
Independent	0.02	0.03	0.02	0.01	0.03	0.04
Conservative	0.19	0.22	0.07	0.03	0.02	0.02
Republican	0.27	0.31	0.13	0.08	0.03	0.03

Big year for politics

Freshmen are the most conservative

...but seniors are the most polarized by gender.

Here’s the political ideology of students on campus by class year and gender (measured as % liberal minus % conservative).

	More liberal More conservative
Freshman MAN	0.36	n=651
Freshman WOMAN	0.00	n=712
Sophomore MAN	0.28	n=559
Sophomore WOMAN	-0.09	n=617
Junior MAN	0.25	n=398
Junior WOMAN	-0.16	n=387
Senior MAN	0.21	n=292
Senior WOMAN	-0.26	n=379

Democrats claim they always vote

Here’s how we hit the polls. Allegedly.

	Never Even in local elections
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Democrat	0.01	0.03	0.06	0.15	0.25	0.17	0.33	x̄=5.43	n=989
Republican	0.02	0.04	0.10	0.19	0.26	0.18	0.23	x̄=5.07	n=1127
Liberal	0.05	0.04	0.08	0.20	0.25	0.16	0.21	x̄=4.91	n=285
Independent	0.05	0.07	0.11	0.24	0.25	0.15	0.13	x̄=4.53	n=805
Conservative	0.05	0.09	0.12	0.18	0.27	0.14	0.14	x̄=4.53	n=476
Apolitical	0.19	0.13	0.22	0.26	0.13	0.02	0.05	x̄=3.25	n=125

Home is where the heart is

Some of us moved here from a long way away. Does absence make the heart grow fonder? Here’s how we answered “I take pride in where I’m from.”

	Strongly disagree Strongly agree
Liberal	5.65	n=285
Other	5.74	n=205
Independent	5.74	n=805
Conservative	5.83	n=476
Democrat	5.83	n=989
Republican	5.92	n=1127

Women vs Men

Ladies and gentlemen——we know you’re curious. We’re here to give you the data on the age-old question: How different are men and women, really?

These analyses focus on respondents that identified as men and women. We support nonbinary students at Notre Dame absolutely, and due to the limited size of our sample we can’t share their insights without compromising their anonymity and safety. If you have questions about this, or ideas about how we can do this better, send us a note at inclusion@marriagepact.com.

Gender and orientation at Notre Dame

About 1 in 12 women at Notre Dame identifies as non-heterosexual.

Of those, 64% identify as bisexual and 24% identify as homosexual.

About 1 in 20 men at Notre Dame identifies as non-heterosexual.

Of those, 66% identify as homosexual and 28% identify as bisexual.

Points of disagreement

Presenting the questions the women and men of Notre Dame were most misaligned on. If you’re in the mood to pick a fight, have fun.

Q: “I generally like to take control during sex”

34%

29%

17%

men

I'd rather not 🥺

Give me the reins 😈

13%

24%

28%

27%

women

Q: “I want to be worshiped by my partner”

18%

22%

19%

15%

men

Strongly disagree

Strongly agree

12%

20%

29%

15%

10%

women

Q: “I find politically incorrect humor funny”

10%

21%

26%

34%

men

Strongly disagree

Strongly agree

13%

20%

24%

16%

15%

women

Q: “Divorce can be a good thing”

10%

15%

16%

24%

13%

men

Strongly disagree

Strongly agree

16%

27%

21%

15%

women

Let’s Talk

About Sex

This year, we’re going out with a bang. Here’s a look at what Notre Dame students are getting up to in the bedroom.

Freshmen are ready to settle down

Meanwhile, seniors like to keep things casual.

Here’s how each year stacks up on sociosexuality (in other words, openness to hooking up without commitment).

	commitment casual sex
Freshman	-0.27	n=1370
Sophomore	-0.21	n=1181
Junior	-0.18	n=786
Senior	-0.13	n=675

Bringing politics into the bedroom

...is always a good idea! Here’s how students with different political identities answered the question “I generally like to take control during sex.”

	I’d rather not 🥺 Give me the reins 😈
Democrat	3.39	n=989
Liberal	3.55	n=285
Independent	3.80	n=805
Apolitical	3.84	n=125
Republican	3.91	n=1127
Conservative	4.03	n=476

What’s the easiest major?

No, not that kind of easy. Here’s how the different majors at Notre Dame answered the question “How long do you think it’s appropriate to wait before sex?”

	Zero wait Until marriage
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Economics	0.05	0.13	0.30	0.24	0.13	0.06	0.10	x̄=3.82	n=250
Finance	0.04	0.13	0.26	0.26	0.15	0.09	0.08	x̄=3.92	n=595
Marketing	0.03	0.14	0.22	0.25	0.19	0.10	0.07	x̄=3.99	n=138
Political Science	0.01	0.12	0.16	0.35	0.16	0.09	0.11	x̄=4.23	n=214
Computer Science	0.02	0.09	0.23	0.27	0.15	0.11	0.12	x̄=4.26	n=201
Neuroscience and Behavior	0.02	0.06	0.23	0.22	0.20	0.12	0.16	x̄=4.50	n=300
Mechanical Engineering	0.02	0.06	0.27	0.19	0.14	0.10	0.21	x̄=4.50	n=206
Biochemistry	0.05	0.05	0.11	0.27	0.21	0.10	0.21	x̄=4.68	n=62
History	0.02	0.07	0.18	0.22	0.16	0.09	0.27	x̄=4.76	n=45
Physics	0.00	0.10	0.15	0.24	0.15	0.10	0.27	x̄=4.80	n=41

We asked: How single are you?

Here’s how each class year responded. If only there were an algorithm to make this easier...

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