Majors

Best Colleges for History, by Earnings

1,128 of the colleges we track award a bachelor's degree in History, about 23,489 degrees a year. Across the 440 that report earnings, graduates make a median of $50,592 four years after finishing.

Rank	College	State	Median earnings, 4 years out	Degrees a year	Acceptance rate
1	Dartmouth College	NH	$136,403	41	5.4%
2	Duke University	NC	$112,377	45	5.7%
3	Yale University	CT	$109,947	96	3.9%
4	Amherst College	MA	$103,601	28	9%
5	Washington and Lee University	VA	$100,087	17	14%
6	Columbia University	NY	$98,079	152	4%
7	University of Pennsylvania	PA	$88,517	54	5.4%
8	Brown University	RI	$85,520	63	5.4%
9	Cornell University	NY	$82,031	24	8.8%
10	Princeton University	NJ	$80,347	72	4.6%
11	Boston College	MA	$80,073	69	16.4%
12	University of Southern California	CA	$79,940	77	9.8%
13	Northwestern University	IL	$78,966	52	7.7%
14	Colgate University	NY	$75,784	39	13.9%
15	Georgetown University	DC	$75,501	48	12.9%
16	New York University	NY	$74,545	82	7.7%
17	Virginia Military Institute	VA	$72,630	44	71.3%
18	College of the Holy Cross	MA	$72,423	36	17.6%
19	Fordham University	NY	$72,389	55	59.3%
20	University of Virginia	VA	$71,187	113	16.8%
21	George Washington University	DC	$70,734	54	47.1%
22	Harvard University	MA	$70,679	161	3.6%
23	University of Notre Dame	IN	$70,423	49	11.3%
24	Emory University	GA	$69,988	32	10.7%
25	Vanderbilt University	TN	$69,820	53	5.9%
26	University of Scranton	PA	$68,443	25	81.2%
27	Bowie State University	MD	$68,077	26	72.4%
28	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo	CA	$66,518	55	31.3%
29	Norwich University	VT	$66,185	13	74.4%
30	Binghamton University	NY	$65,984	89	38.6%
31	Tufts University	MA	$65,540	36	11.5%
32	California State University-East Bay	CA	$65,217	34	97.4%
33	Syracuse University	NY	$64,871	41	45.9%
34	Citadel Military College of South Carolina	SC	$64,869	19	22.7%
35	University of California-Berkeley	CA	$64,755	105	11%
36	CUNY Bernard M Baruch College	NY	$64,570	12	47.5%
37	University of Chicago	IL	$64,330	70	4.5%
38	Monmouth University	NJ	$63,947	24	89%
39	College of William & Mary	VA	$63,632	114	34.1%
40	Mount Saint Mary College	NY	$63,174	24	88.9%
41	College of Staten Island CUNY	NY	$63,071	24	92.3%
42	Barnard College	NY	$62,258	39	8.8%
43	University of Michigan	MI	$62,077	107	15.6%
44	University of California-San Diego	CA	$61,745	73	26.7%
45	CUNY Lehman College	NY	$61,512	21	56.6%
46	The University of Texas at Dallas	TX	$61,321	32	65.1%
47	University of Washington	WA	$61,059	151	39.1%
48	University of Washington-Tacoma Campus	WA	$61,059	26	82.5%
49	Oberlin College	OH	$60,895	45	34.2%
50	Hobart William Smith Colleges	NY	$60,616	22	64%
51	University of California-Santa Cruz	CA	$60,519	104	65.8%
52	University of Puget Sound	WA	$60,458	24	72.3%
53	Kean University	NJ	$60,236	50	75.9%
54	University of Maryland	MD	$60,089	83	44.8%
55	Boston University	MA	$59,986	39	11.1%
56	Siena University	NY	$59,855	23	69%
57	Austin College	TX	$59,833	26	47.7%
58	Virginia Tech	VA	$59,819	43	54.8%
59	Vassar College	NY	$59,814	16	18.6%
60	National University	CA	$59,645	22
61	American University	DC	$59,630	29	62%
62	University of California-Los Angeles	CA	$59,555	240	9%
63	Williams College	MA	$59,535	55	8.3%
64	Marquette University	WI	$59,529	38	81.3%
65	Seton Hall University	NJ	$59,445	30	73.3%
66	Brandeis University	MA	$59,426	28	40.5%
67	University of California-Santa Barbara	CA	$59,342	159	33%
68	University of Cincinnati	OH	$59,290	23	85.3%
69	Wabash College	IN	$59,221	13	63.3%
70	University of Kansas	KS	$58,936	42	93.5%
71	San Francisco State University	CA	$58,717	64	96.4%
72	Washington State University	WA	$58,415	78	86.6%
73	University of Wisconsin-Madison	WI	$58,343	153	45.2%
74	Indiana University	IN	$58,258	53	78.2%
75	CUNY Hunter College	NY	$58,253	41	53.8%
76	Coe College	IA	$58,240	11	64%
77	University of Massachusetts-Boston	MA	$57,992	34	83.8%
78	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	NC	$57,952	123	15.3%
79	San Diego State University	CA	$57,861	81	36.2%
80	Ramapo College of New Jersey	NJ	$57,820	17	70.6%
81	Texas A&M University	TX	$57,783	137	57.4%
82	University of California-Davis	CA	$57,734	116	41.8%
83	Dickinson College	PA	$57,699	17	42.1%
84	University of Houston-Clear Lake	TX	$57,675	35	90.5%
85	Loyola University Chicago	IL	$57,639	50	81.6%
86	Nevada State University	NV	$57,600	20	86.8%
87	St Lawrence University	NY	$57,349	22	54.3%
88	University of Dayton	OH	$57,218	10	65.5%
89	The University of Texas at Arlington	TX	$57,159	81	79.9%
90	Baylor University	TX	$57,006	35	51.3%
91	University of Connecticut	CT	$56,937	72	52.4%
92	University of Texas at Austin	TX	$56,881	104	26.6%
93	Loyola University Maryland	MD	$56,845	7	75.5%
94	University of Rochester	NY	$56,838	31	40.1%
95	Florida State University	FL	$56,834	95	24.2%
96	Sonoma State University	CA	$56,819	53	93.4%
97	Oregon State University	OR	$56,790	61	77.3%
98	Oregon State University-Cascades Campus	OR	$56,790	2	63.1%
99	Old Dominion University	VA	$56,715	46	90.4%
100	Florida International University	FL	$56,676	73	54.7%

Showing the top 100 of 440 colleges that report earnings. 688 more colleges award this degree but have no earnings figure, usually because the program is small.

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Frequently asked questions

Which college has the highest-paid History graduates?

Dartmouth College ($136,403), Duke University ($112,377), Yale University ($109,947), Amherst College ($103,601), Washington and Lee University ($100,087) report the highest median earnings four years after graduation.

How much do History majors make?

The median across 440 colleges is $50,592 four years after graduation. By college it runs from $28,802 to $136,403.

Which colleges have the biggest History programs?

By bachelor's degrees awarded in a year: Southern New Hampshire University (315), Liberty University (246), University of California-Los Angeles (240), Harvard University (161), University of California-Santa Barbara (159).

Does a higher-earning program mean a better program?

Not on its own. Earnings reflect where graduates live, what jobs they take, and who enrolled in the first place, as well as the teaching. The figures cover only graduates who received federal financial aid, and small programs are left out, so a college missing from this list may still have a strong department.

Source: College Scorecard, Most Recent Data by Field of Study (U.S. Department of Education), 2026-06-10 release, federal program category "History". Earnings are medians for graduates who received federal financial aid, working and not enrolled, four years after a bachelor's degree.