Major Rankings

Best Colleges for History

Ranked by graduate earnings. Data from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, updated 2026.

Programs tracked: 389

Avg grad salary: $43,755

Total graduates: 17,178

Top Colleges for History: Ranked by Graduate Earnings

Showing schools with reported earnings data. Earnings reflect median graduate salary 4 years after graduation (or 1 year where 4-year data is unavailable).

#	School	Median Salary (4yr)	Starting Salary (1yr)	Graduates	Median Debt	Admit Rate
1	Amherst College Amherst, MA	$114,276	$56,444	25	N/A	9.8%
2	Harvard University Cambridge, MA	$89,238	$53,468	58	$12,721	3.5%
3	Duke University Durham, NC	$83,943	$60,750	33	$13,000	6.8%
4	Dartmouth College Hanover, NH	$82,121	$61,127	28	$19,000	6.2%
5	Yale University New Haven, CT	$77,988	$54,700	51	$12,000	4.5%
6	University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA	$76,695	$48,555	30	$11,000	5.9%
7	Cornell University Ithaca, NY	$72,818	$44,706	31	$16,884	8.2%
8	Columbia University New York, NY	$70,499	$53,828	72	$22,000	4.2%
9	Hobart William Smith Colleges Geneva, NY	$67,364	$30,710	25	$27,000	57.3%
10	George Washington University Washington, DC	$65,725	$38,927	38	$23,250	43.5%
11	College of the Holy Cross Worcester, MA	$65,505	$42,345	37	$27,000	21.1%
12	Providence College Providence, RI	$65,233	$41,923	21	$27,000	48.7%
13	University of Chicago Chicago, IL	$65,148	$46,616	22	N/A	4.8%
14	Virginia Military Institute Lexington, VA	$64,539	$42,543	36	$19,500	81.7%
15	University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN	$63,592	$39,522	16	$19,000	12.4%
16	Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX	$62,508	$33,550	27	$23,250	61.2%
17	Brown University Providence, RI	$62,308	$42,296	34	$13,491	5.2%
18	Northwestern University Evanston, IL	$60,884	$50,161	24	$15,917	7.1%
19	Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN	$60,522	$46,856	22	$15,000	6.3%
20	USC Los Angeles, CA	$59,624	$36,876	35	$12,638	10.0%
21	Fordham University Bronx, NY	$58,741	$20,075	44	$26,000	56.3%
22	Loyola University Chicago Chicago, IL	$58,572	$31,079	28	$24,000	81.4%
23	University of Scranton Scranton, PA	$58,428	$26,442	21	$25,000	84.4%
24	University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA	$58,287	$34,028	73	$19,352	16.9%
25	Binghamton University Vestal, NY	$57,714	$24,498	74	$19,596	37.7%
26	UC Irvine Irvine, CA	$57,191	$23,480	54	$15,929	25.6%
27	Brandeis University Waltham, MA	$57,175	$33,903	19	$23,250	35.3%
28	The College of New Jersey Ewing, NJ	$56,930	$26,218	23	$25,000	62.1%
29	UC Berkeley Berkeley, CA	$56,461	$28,849	80	$13,068	11.7%
30	American University Washington, DC	$56,450	$43,809	29	$26,000	47.4%
31	The University of Texas at Dallas Richardson, TX	$55,900	$37,450	27	$23,000	65.5%
32	Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA	$55,258	$41,341	49	$19,000	15.7%
33	NYU New York, NY	$55,058	$39,636	43	$19,000	9.4%
34	Brigham Young University Provo, UT	$54,987	$38,643	56	$15,000	69.2%
35	Connecticut College New London, CT	$54,968	$34,657	20	$21,500	38.3%
36	University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI	$54,182	$35,959	84	$20,909	43.4%
37	Syracuse University Syracuse, NY	$54,025	$34,610	48	$26,000	41.7%
38	CUNY Hunter College New York, NY	$53,778	$28,790	44	$10,500	54.0%
39	University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI	$53,492	$31,215	103	$19,494	17.9%
40	Citadel Military College of South Carolina Charleston, SC	$53,322	$42,712	22	$25,524	98.1%
41	The University of Texas at Arlington Arlington, TX	$53,170	$44,806	88	$24,875	81.3%
42	San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA	$53,086	$28,718	63	$15,000	96.2%
43	Cal Poly SLO San Luis Obispo, CA	$53,071	$31,540	35	$17,627	29.8%
44	University of Maryland College Park, MD	$53,052	$42,020	67	$23,715	44.8%
45	University of Florida Gainesville, FL	$52,559	$27,360	91	$19,022	24.0%
46	Siena College Loudonville, NY	$52,396	$29,134	20	$27,000	70.6%
47	University of Maryland Global Campus Adelphi, MD	$52,388	$31,852	58	$23,750	N/A
48	St Lawrence University Canton, NY	$52,170	$35,230	22	$27,000	58.5%
49	CUNY Queens College Queens, NY	$51,989	$27,769	62	$13,000	68.5%
50	Texas A&M University College Station, TX	$51,887	$42,899	118	$20,410	63.2%
51	Sam Houston State University Huntsville, TX	$51,573	$34,016	112	$28,000	85.4%
52	Wabash College Crawfordsville, IN	$51,232	$39,138	25	$27,000	62.8%
53	Kean University Union, NJ	$51,125	$34,934	64	$26,000	76.9%
54	University of Iowa Iowa City, IA	$51,028	$33,117	59	$25,978	84.7%
55	University of Houston Houston, TX	$50,957	$39,240	88	$21,250	69.5%
56	George Mason University Fairfax, VA	$50,874	$25,992	74	$24,625	88.8%
57	Indiana University Bloomington, IN	$50,828	$31,880	45	$23,754	80.4%
58	Emory University Atlanta, GA	$50,737	$33,710	21	$21,000	11.1%
59	St. Mary's College of Maryland St. Mary's City, MD	$50,734	$28,929	18	$23,943	75.4%
60	Grinnell College Grinnell, IA	$50,567	$39,687	20	$17,500	12.7%

Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard. Earnings are median among graduates who received federal financial aid.

Choosing the Best History Program

Graduate Earnings

Median salary 4 years post-graduation measures the long-term ROI of a program. Higher earnings with lower debt means better financial outcomes.

Program Size

Graduate count signals program maturity. Larger programs often have stronger alumni networks and more job placement resources.

Debt-to-Earnings Ratio

Compare median debt against starting salary. A ratio below 1x means most graduates can repay loans within a year of earnings.

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