Best Colleges for History 2025

20 schools ranked by graduate earnings — real data from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard.

History graduates are well-positioned for careers across multiple industries. The rankings below are based on actual graduate earnings data from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard.

Earnings shown are median graduate earnings 4 years after graduation (or 1 year if 4-year data is unavailable), sourced from the College Scorecard.See full major data

Top 20 History Programs by Graduate Earnings

#	School	Earnings	Tuition	Accept Rate	Enrollment
1	Amherst College Amherst, MA	$114,276	$67,280	10%	1,907
2	Harvard University Cambridge, MA	$89,238	$59,076	3%	7,755
3	Duke University Durham, NC	$83,943	$65,805	7%	6,417
4	Dartmouth College Hanover, NH	$82,121	$65,739	6%	4,367
5	Yale University New Haven, CT	$77,988	$64,700	5%	6,811
6	University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA	$76,695	$66,104	6%	10,768
7	Cornell University Ithaca, NY	$72,818	$66,014	8%	15,935
8	Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY	$70,499	$69,045	4%	8,899
9	Hobart William Smith Colleges Geneva, NY	$67,364	$63,268	57%	1,606
10	George Washington University Washington, DC	$65,725	$64,990	44%	10,848
11	College of the Holy Cross Worcester, MA	$65,505	$60,850	21%	3,015
12	Providence College Providence, RI	$65,233	$60,848	49%	4,170
13	University of Chicago Chicago, IL	$65,148	$66,939	5%	7,540
14	Virginia Military Institute Lexington, VA	$64,539	$51,186	82%	1,560
15	University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN	$63,592	$62,693	12%	8,923
16	Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX	$62,508	$64,460	61%	7,106
17	Brown University Providence, RI	$62,308	$68,230	5%	7,273
18	Northwestern University Evanston, IL	$60,884	$65,997	7%	8,960
19	Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN	$60,522	$63,946	6%	7,143
20	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA	$59,624	$68,237	10%	20,817