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Program ranking · CIP 54.01 bachelor's · College Scorecard · Mar-Jul 2026 retrievals

Best Colleges for History

Using U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard field-of-study data retrieved March-July 2026, these colleges rank highest on median earnings for History (CIP 54.01) bachelor's completers. Rankings use earnings only - not prestige, selectivity, or editorial judgment - and require at least 25 completers so tiny suppressed cohorts do not dominate the list.

$136,403
Highest history earnings
100
Colleges ranked
$54,659
#100 cutoff

The list in one line

Every college on this list reports at least $54,659 median earnings for History bachelor's (CIP 54.01) completers. Dartmouth College leads at $136,403.

According to the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard.

$136,403
#1 - Dartmouth College
$54,659
#100 - the cutoff to make this list
25+
completers required per school
1,246
US schools offering this CIP

Earnings are field-of-study medians for federally aided completers who were working and not enrolled; see methodology for horizon and lag details.

Top 15 history programs by median completer earnings

History bachelor's (CIP 54.01) · higher is higher early-career pay

median earnings

What this shows History medians often reflect teaching, archives, and graduate-school pipelines - debt and cohort size still matter alongside the headline median.

Source U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard Field of Study As of Mar-Jul 2026 retrievals

The full top 100

# School Name StateMedian EarningsMedian DebtCompleters
1 Dartmouth College NH $136,403 $19,000 40
2 Duke University NC $112,377 $13,000 41
3 Yale University CT $109,947 $8,250 94
4 Columbia University in the City of New York NY $98,079 $21,500 111
5 University of Pennsylvania PA $88,517 $10,000 64
6 Brown University RI $85,520 $13,491 83
7 Cornell University NY $82,031 $17,110 50
8 Princeton University NJ $80,347 - 68
9 Boston College MA $80,073 $18,997 64
10 University of Southern California CA $79,940 $12,138 82
11 Northwestern University IL $78,966 $15,917 63
12 Colgate University NY $75,784 - 31
13 Georgetown University DC $75,501 $16,640 46
14 New York University NY $74,545 $18,875 118
15 Virginia Military Institute VA $72,630 $19,500 34
16 College of the Holy Cross MA $72,423 $27,000 65
17 Fordham University NY $72,389 $26,000 54
18 University of Virginia-Main Campus VA $71,187 $18,250 139
19 George Washington University DC $70,734 $23,250 72
20 Harvard University MA $70,679 $12,721 139
21 University of Notre Dame IN $70,423 $19,000 57
22 Emory University GA $69,988 $21,000 38
23 Vanderbilt University TN $69,820 $16,514 49
24 California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo CA $66,518 $15,833 60
25 Binghamton University NY $65,984 $18,375 77
26 Tufts University MA $65,540 $15,500 30
27 California State University-East Bay CA $65,217 $20,000 39
28 Syracuse University NY $64,871 $24,250 44
29 University of California-Berkeley CA $64,755 $13,034 121
30 University of Chicago IL $64,330 - 79
31 Monmouth University NJ $63,947 $27,000 26
32 William & Mary VA $63,632 $15,000 99
33 Mount Saint Mary College NY $63,174 $26,999 35
34 College of Staten Island CUNY NY $63,071 $17,354 45
35 Barnard College NY $62,258 $16,350 41
36 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor MI $62,077 $19,096 121
37 University of California-San Diego CA $61,745 $16,756 78
38 CUNY Lehman College NY $61,512 $12,897 34
39 The University of Texas at Dallas TX $61,321 $19,125 25
40 University of Washington-Seattle Campus WA $61,059 $15,000 134
41 Oberlin College OH $60,895 $25,250 29
42 Hobart William Smith Colleges NY $60,616 $27,000 30
43 University of California-Santa Cruz CA $60,519 $18,100 93
44 Kean University NJ $60,236 $22,158 51
45 University of Maryland-College Park MD $60,089 $21,026 85
46 Boston University MA $59,986 $25,996 47
47 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University VA $59,819 $20,499 49
48 Vassar College NY $59,814 $19,000 29
49 American Public University System WV $59,793 $30,321 103
50 National University CA $59,645 $29,687 29
51 American University DC $59,630 $26,000 25
52 University of California-Los Angeles CA $59,555 $13,500 249
53 Williams College MA $59,535 - 53
54 Marquette University WI $59,529 $19,369 38
55 Brandeis University MA $59,426 $23,250 38
56 University of California-Santa Barbara CA $59,342 $14,282 156
57 University of Kansas KS $58,936 $21,695 38
58 San Francisco State University CA $58,717 $15,000 61
59 Washington State University WA $58,415 $22,266 73
60 University of Wisconsin-Madison WI $58,343 $19,500 119
61 Indiana University-Bloomington IN $58,258 $19,975 39
62 CUNY Hunter College NY $58,253 $13,000 55
63 University of Massachusetts-Boston MA $57,992 $23,801 28
64 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill NC $57,952 $14,250 143
65 San Diego State University CA $57,861 $13,881 67
66 Ramapo College of New Jersey NJ $57,820 $21,500 29
67 Texas A&M University-College Station TX $57,783 $16,751 127
68 University of California-Davis CA $57,734 $13,312 115
69 University of Houston-Clear Lake TX $57,675 $18,750 34
70 Loyola University Chicago IL $57,639 $23,288 53
71 The University of Texas at Arlington TX $57,159 $22,000 66
72 Baylor University TX $57,006 $24,625 42
73 University of Connecticut CT $56,937 $21,377 69
74 The University of Texas at Austin TX $56,881 $18,625 110
75 Florida State University FL $56,834 $17,500 87
76 Sonoma State University CA $56,819 $13,500 44
77 Oregon State University OR $56,790 $22,431 57
78 Old Dominion University VA $56,715 $23,000 40
79 Florida International University FL $56,676 $17,125 59
80 University of Missouri-Columbia MO $56,632 $21,000 30
81 University of Massachusetts-Amherst MA $56,597 $21,250 84
82 University of Maryland-Baltimore County MD $56,394 $19,579 49
83 Towson University MD $56,318 $18,327 47
84 California State University-Bakersfield CA $56,081 - 62
85 University of Massachusetts-Lowell MA $55,973 $22,564 31
86 University of North Texas TX $55,906 $21,000 150
87 California State University-Sacramento CA $55,797 $18,471 115
88 James Madison University VA $55,782 $20,018 61
89 University of Houston TX $55,475 $19,500 87
90 University of New Mexico-Main Campus NM $55,464 $19,200 50
91 California State University-Los Angeles CA $55,413 $14,777 50
92 University of Delaware DE $55,388 $22,518 65
93 University at Albany NY $55,377 $19,500 81
94 University of Maryland Global Campus MD $55,336 $16,373 132
95 University of Nevada-Reno NV $55,230 $16,500 59
96 University of New Hampshire-Main Campus NH $54,841 $22,750 43
97 Arizona State University Digital Immersion AZ $54,798 $23,493 128
98 Arizona State University Campus Immersion AZ $54,798 $23,493 104
99 University of Vermont VT $54,694 $20,247 37
100 University of Minnesota-Twin Cities MN $54,659 $19,000 95

About This Ranking

Schools are ranked by College Scorecard field-of-study median earnings for History (CIP 54.01) bachelor's completers. Only operating schools with at least 25 completers and a published median are included. Ties break toward larger completer cohorts. For the full program profile - including every reporting school and national distribution - see History (bachelor's). Methodology lives on our methodology page.

Caveats and limitations

"Best" here means highest reported median earnings for the stated CIP scope - not teaching quality, licensure pass rates, clinical placement strength, or fit for any one student. This list covers History (CIP 54.01) bachelor's programs - area studies and political science (CIP 45.10) are ranked separately when demand warrants.

Figures cover federally aided completers only, use Treasury-linked earnings, and describe a lagged cohort. Regional pay scales and graduate-school paths both move the median without proving a causal school effect.

This ranking is for informational purposes only and does not constitute academic or career advice. Earnings do not predict any individual graduate's outcome.

Every figure on PlainCollege is rendered directly from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard data, no number is typed in by an editor. Rankings are computed directly from College Scorecard field-of-study data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error on this page. Review the public data changelog. Data current as of Mar-Jul 2026 retrievals.