Ranked by graduate earnings

Best colleges for History

50 History programs ranked by real graduate earnings, debt, and completion - from the College Scorecard Field-of-Study data.

Quick answer

For History, Yale University (Connecticut) ranks #1 by our outcome score, with median graduate earnings of $109,947. Rankings reflect earnings, debt, and completion - not reputation or cost - across 50 programs with published outcome data.

#	School	Credential	Median earnings	Median debt	Completers	Score
1	Yale University New Haven, CT	Bachelor's Degree	$109,947	$8,250	94	99.1
2	University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA	Bachelor's Degree	$88,517	$10,000	64	97.6
3	Brown University Providence, RI	Bachelor's Degree	$85,520	$13,491	83	97.2
4	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$79,940	$12,138	82	97
5	Duke University Durham, NC	Bachelor's Degree	$112,377	$13,000	41	96.8
6	Harvard University Cambridge, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$70,679	$12,721	139	95.4
7	Northwestern University Evanston, IL	Bachelor's Degree	$78,966	$15,917	63	94.3
8	Cornell University Ithaca, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$82,031	$17,110	50	93.5
9	Georgetown University Washington, DC	Bachelor's Degree	$75,501	$16,640	46	92.6
10	Dartmouth College Hanover, NH	Bachelor's Degree	$136,403	$19,000	40	92.2
11	University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$64,755	$13,034	121	92.1
12	Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$80,073	$18,997	64	92.1
13	New York University New York, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$74,545	$18,875	118	92.1
14	University of Virginia-Main Campus Charlottesville, VA	Bachelor's Degree	$71,187	$18,250	139	92.1
15	Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN	Bachelor's Degree	$69,820	$16,514	49	90.7
16	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$66,518	$15,833	60	90.3
17	William & Mary Williamsburg, VA	Bachelor's Degree	$63,632	$15,000	99	89.8
18	Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$98,079	$21,500	111	89.1
19	University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN	Bachelor's Degree	$70,423	$19,000	57	88.9
20	Binghamton University Vestal, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$65,984	$18,375	77	88.5
21	University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA	Bachelor's Degree	$61,059	$15,000	134	88.4
22	Tufts University Medford, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$65,540	$15,500	30	87.9
23	Virginia Military Institute Lexington, VA	Bachelor's Degree	$72,630	$19,500	34	87.7
24	University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$61,745	$16,756	78	87.1
25	Princeton University Princeton, NJ	Bachelor's Degree	$80,347	-	68	87.1
26	University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$59,555	$13,500	249	86.9
27	CUNY Lehman College Bronx, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$61,512	$12,897	34	86.9
28	Barnard College New York, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$62,258	$16,350	41	86.2
29	University of California-Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$59,342	$14,282	156	85.9
30	College of Staten Island CUNY Staten Island, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$63,071	$17,354	45	85.9
31	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI	Bachelor's Degree	$62,077	$19,096	121	85.3
32	University of California-Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$60,519	$18,100	93	85.2
33	Amherst College Amherst, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$103,601	-	23	84.8
34	Ashland University Ashland, OH	Master's Degree	$70,522	-	64	84.4
35	Emory University Atlanta, GA	Bachelor's Degree	$69,988	$21,000	38	84.2
36	Colgate University Hamilton, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$75,784	-	31	84
37	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC	Bachelor's Degree	$57,952	$14,250	143	84
38	Rice University Houston, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$85,817	-	23	84
39	Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$79,519	$22,280	35	84
40	Wake Forest University Winston-Salem, NC	Bachelor's Degree	$66,622	$20,963	52	83.9
41	California State University-East Bay Hayward, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$65,217	$20,000	39	83.8
42	University of California-Davis Davis, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$57,734	$13,312	115	83.7
43	Washington and Lee University Lexington, VA	Bachelor's Degree	$100,087	-	19	83.7
44	CUNY Hunter College New York, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$58,253	$13,000	55	83.5
45	Princeton University Princeton, NJ	Doctoral Degree	$90,535	-	19	83.4
46	Bucknell University Lewisburg, PA	Bachelor's Degree	$84,411	-	21	83.3
47	San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$58,717	$15,000	61	83.2
48	San Diego State University San Diego, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$57,861	$13,881	67	82.9
49	Bates College Lewiston, ME	Bachelor's Degree	$75,175	-	26	82.8
50	University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA	Doctoral Degree	$82,591	-	19	82.7

Filter History by state & degree level →

Hidden Gems for History

Lower-profile schools with a genuinely strong outcome score for History - the famous brand names and mega-flagships are deliberately filtered out.

#	School	Median earnings	Admit rate	Score
1	Virginia Military Institute Lexington, VA Strong History outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$72,630	71%	87.7
2	College of Staten Island CUNY Staten Island, NY Strong History outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$63,071	92%	85.9
3	Ashland University Ashland, OH Strong History outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$70,522	76%	84.4
4	Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX Strong History outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$79,519	63%	84
5	California State University-East Bay Hayward, CA Strong History outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$65,217	97%	83.8
6	Pace University New York, NY Strong History outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$63,996	76%	82.4
7	University of Washington-Tacoma Campus Tacoma, WA Strong History outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$61,059	83%	81.5
8	University of Scranton Scranton, PA Strong History outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$68,443	81%	79.4
9	Sonoma State University Rohnert Park, CA Strong History outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$56,819	93%	79.3
10	Marquette University Milwaukee, WI Strong History outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$59,529	81%	79.2
11	California State University-Dominguez Hills Carson, CA Strong History outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$56,749	93%	77.7
12	Northeastern University Professional Programs Boston, MA Strong History outcome score, smaller, lower-profile campus	$63,710	-	77.4

Hidden Gems use the same College Scorecard outcome score, then drop the pool’s most-selective brands (bottom-quartile admit rate) and largest campuses (top-quartile enrollment). Schools that don’t report admit rate or enrollment are not dropped by that guard.

How we ranked this

Programs are scored 0-100 within the History field (CIP 54.01) using three College Scorecard figures: median graduate earnings (weighted 70%), median federal-loan debt (20%, inverted so lower debt scores higher), and completer count (10%, log-scaled). Each input is percentile-ranked against the other History programs, so the score is robust to outliers and comparable across schools. Programs with no published earnings are excluded - never given a fabricated number. This is the same engine that powers our interactive Major Rankings. Minimum 5 scorable programs required to publish.

Frequently asked questions

Which college has the best History program?+

By our outcome score, Yale University (Connecticut) ranks #1 for History, with median graduate earnings of $109,947.

How are these History programs ranked?+

Each program gets a 0-100 outcome score from three real College Scorecard figures: median graduate earnings (70%), median federal-loan debt (20%, lower is better), and completer count (10%). Programs are compared within the major so the score reflects the best schools for this field specifically.

Where does the earnings and debt data come from?+

The U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard Field-of-Study file, which publishes median earnings and median debt by institution and major (4-digit CIP). Figures are post-graduation medians; programs without published earnings are not scored and are omitted from this ranking.

Can I filter History programs by state or degree level?+

Yes. This page shows the national top programs; use the interactive Major Rankings tool to filter the same data by state, and by credential level (bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral).

Keep exploring

History rankings (filterable)All major rankings Browse colleges Tuition-free colleges All Best-Of guides

Data sources: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard (Field of Study) · IPEDS Completions. Figures are the most recent values published in each federal dataset; cells with no published value are shown as “-” and never estimated. GetInto.College does not sell rankings or accept placement fees.