If you love learning about people and events of the past, you may enjoy pursuing a history degree. Historians read, study, and write about history. By objectively investigating the facts and interpretations of events in the past, historians describes why and how events happened and how certain people came to have an impact on the times they lived in. Historians often specialize in a particular time period, geographical region, or culture. If you pursue a history degree, you’ll get a classic liberal arts foundation and take classes in literature, the classics, critical thinking, philosophy, and possibly a foreign language in addition to history and core courses. A bachelor’s degree is the lowest practical history degree and students who plan a career as a historian or similar scholar will probably need a master’s degree. Research historians and history professors teaching at the university level generally have Ph.D.s. Some schools offer history degree programs online, since a lot of the coursework involves independent research, reading, and writing.
History Degree Careers
A research scholar is the most obvious history degree career, but scholars live under the old academic rule, “publish or perish.” Nevertheless, a history degree can be an appropriate starting point for jobs and careers in museums, archives, government agencies, libraries, and colleges and universities. Such careers include museum curator; state or national park ranger or interpreter; history teacher; historical society leader; archaeologist; library, museum, or agency archivist; or anthropologist. Many students with history degrees go into politics and public service, or go to law school. The U.S. federal government is an excellent source of history-related careers because it sustains many substantial archives and typically offers much higher pay than the private sector. If you become an established expert in your history niche, you may also build a career as a freelance consultant with archaeologists and other professionals in the social sciences.
What’s the History Degree Job Outlook?
Employment of historians is expected to grow at an average rate between 2008 and 2018. Most employment may be with federal, state, and local government, and employers generally prefer historians with master’s degrees and Ph.D.s. But since history degree holders have a strong liberal arts education, with training in analytical research and writing, their skills can be applied to many different jobs and careers.
How Much Does a History Degree Career Pay?
The salary range for graduates with a history degree is broad and depends on the organization offering the job. As of May 2008, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports historians’ median annual earnings around $54,530. Median wages for other occupations related to a history degree include:
- High school teacher: $47,740
- College history professor: $50,256
- Museum employee: $43,203
- Historic preservation staff: $36,000
- Federal government historian: $48,668
