History Degrees
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Salaries For Degrees in History
Graduates in History can work in a variety of jobs. It is impossible to say what you personally will do with a degree in History, our survey panel picked the following jobs as likely options:
- Law clerks
- Curators (Best salary!)
The median salary for people with a degree in History is $38,216.13. The lifetime value of this degree is approximately $954,029.00.
Salaries are highly dependent on individual negotiating skill, seniority in the field, your employer, region, and a host of other factors. The estimates we show on these pages are just that: estimates. Your individual experience will likely vary.
Where does this come from?
The Bureau of Labor Statistics, a unit of the US government, classifies all workers into some 800-odd occupational categories. We paid a army of freelancers to solicit their view on what type of degree a holder of each type of job would likely have majored in. For pairs which had a high degree of consensus, we created a link between the degree and the job.
From this, we calculated the average salary for History degrees and converted it into a lifetime value. We then compared it against other degrees at the same level of schooling (such as associate's, bachelor's, or master's), so that you can make informed educational and employment decisions.
What Can a History Student Expect to Learn?
The study of history is one of the oldest scholastic disciplines in the world. The Greek philosphoer Aristotle wrote that “If you would understand anything, observe its beginning and its development,” and he made the study of history an important part of the education of his prize pupil, Alexander the Great. Similarly, Jewish children have been steeped in the history of the Israelite nation almost since the first records of history. Almost every society that modern scholars have studied have emphasized history as foundational for education.
At early stages of education, there is a strong emphasis on learning the crucial dates and events of world and national history. At the university level, the study of history is much more than just memorizing facts and dates. The focus is generally on understanding the sweeping changes of history rather than on specific people. Rather than studying Napoleon as a great figure, students study the economic and social issues that led the common people of France to clamor for a imperial ruler. Some professors will go so far as to suggest that it was not Napoleon that made France great, but rather the cultural shifts of France that made Napoleon.
Coursework
A typical course of study starts with an overview of Western Civilization, which usually takes at least two semesters. The next year, students will begin to focus more on a particular field of history, such as ancient, medieval, or US history. These early classes tend to be large lecture type courses, which are often held with fifty students or more.
During the third and fourth years, class size gets much smaller as students continue to narrow their focus. Classes also tend to require more analysis and interpretation and less memorizing. Additionally, third and fourth year students take several electives, which can be as wide-ranging as the history of pottery, theories of alternative history, and mythological history. Finally, most universities will require a substantial research project at the end of the fourth year. This project will require in-depth research with primary materials and will often serve as a foundation for a thesis or dissertation if a student chooses to continue their education.
Career Path
After graduation, students of history find employment as teachers and professors, historical researchers, library archivists, historical re-enactment actors, museum curators, and positions at other various educational and federal agencies. Because of its foundational nature, many students who study history use their degree as a stepping stone to another discipline. For example, many aspiring law students take US history as the prerequisite courses for law school because it gives a framework and background to the Constitution and laws that they will be learning.
Online Schools Offering Accredited History Degree Programs
With the ready availability of research journals on the Internet, many schools that have traditionally only awarded brick and mortar degrees are branching out to the online community. For instance, the University of Maryland offers a 4-year online history degree that costs around thirty thousand dollars. Smaller colleges can sometimes offer degrees for twenty thousand dollars, but schools offering degrees for less should be carefully investigated to insure that they are properly accredited. Additional schools to obtain this degree online are:
- Ashford University
- Grand Canyon University
- Regent University
- University of Maryland University College
Top Colleges & Universities Offering Campus-based History Degrees
If a student intends to study at a traditional university location, the top ranked schools for history degrees include the University of California at Los Angeles and the University of Pennsylvania.
The UCLA History Department is one of the largest in the United States, with seventy members of the faculty and nearly two thousand students. UCLA coursework tends to focus on sociological and cultural historical trends, and the faculty members are world-renown researchers.
Penn coursework focuses more on developing research skills. In particular, students are encouraged to take at least one semester to study abroad and widen their understanding of history in a more universal sense.
Famous History Students 
Gordon Brown, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (pictured right), was a History graduate.
Other famous History majors include Presidents Bush, Nixon, Kennedy, both Roosevelts, and Wilson.
Wolf Blitzer of CNN and Chris Berman of ESPN were both history majors as well.
