For those who love history, earning a bachelor’s degree in the field will open doors in many professions. In compiling this list of the 15 best small colleges for history majors, we researched small colleges with a net price relatively lower than other schools of this size. In order to be included, schools were required to offer a bachelor’s in history or social sciences not geared toward teaching. The schools were ranked based on:
- affordability
- 20 year net return on investment
- graduation rate
- US News ranking
In order to qualify, each of these small colleges was required to have firm numbers available in each evaluation category. The 15 colleges profiled here scored the highest among schools with maximum enrollment of 3,000 students and a net price (per College Navigator) of $20,000 USD or less per year. You can find more about small colleges for history majors in the FAQ after the article.
The schools profiled below are ranked in order of points earned. The following serves as a guide for future history majors looking for a great deal for higher education in the field.
Ranking the 15 Best Small Colleges for History
#1. Grove City College
Website
Score: 100
Grove City College is a small nondenominational liberal arts college. The school offers a BA in history. The major requires 42 credit hours, in addition to general education and electives. World history I and II are among the courses required. Students will also study historiography as well as American history before 1865 and after 1865. Students will also complete a senior research seminar. They can choose from subjects like ancient empires, medieval history, and the renaissance, among others. Elective options include constitutional law, Reformation Europe, and Christianity and the modern world.
- Tuition: $19,310
- U.S. News Ranking: #105 National Liberal Arts
- 20yr. Net ROI: $505,000
- Graduation/Transfer Rate: 94%
#2. SUNY College at Geneseo
Website
Score: 94.71
The State University of New York Geneseo offers a bachelor of arts in history. The major requires 36 history credits. Eight credits are made up of the courses interpretations of history and research in history. The rest of the 28 credits are made up of electives. These electives can be used to focus your studies. Concentrations available are:
- European history
- American history
- Latin American, Caribbean, Asia, Africa, and Native American history.
Those eligible might decide to do the honors in history program.
- Tuition: $18,837
- U.S. News Ranking: #16 Regional
- 20yr. Net ROI: $348,000
- Graduation/Transfer Rate: 96%
#3. SUNY College at Old Westbury
Website
Score: 89.25
The State University of New York Old Westbury offers a BA in history with both a liberal arts and social studies track. The liberal arts track is more suited to those who wish to become historians or work outside teaching. The social studies track is more suited to those who wish to become teachers. Both tracks require a mix of:
- European history
- American history
- the history of Africa, East Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America
Also featured are subjects like:
- historiography
- trans-regional connections
- developing a global perspective.
- Tuition: $18,289
- U.S. News Ranking: #131 Regional
- 20yr. Net ROI: $426,000
- Graduation/Transfer Rate: 82%
#4. University of Minnesota-Morris
Website
Score: 87.83
The University of Minnesota Morris is part of the University of Minnesota system. This means students there have full access to the resources of a massive research university. All the benefit of such access with a small college vibe. The school has just over 1,300 students. Students can study:
- American Indian history
- Latin American history
- African history
Students can even study the history of gender and sexuality. The campus is home to the West Central Historical Research Center. This center houses unique historical documents and artifacts from the region. Students can investigate these items, and gain experience in maintaining a historical archive.
- Tuition: $15,940
- U.S. News Ranking: #141 National Liberal Arts
- 20yr. Net ROI: $267,000
- Graduation/Transfer Rate: 88%
#5. Fitchburg State University
Website
Score: 85.82
Students at Fitchburg State can earn either a bachelor of arts in history or a bachelor of science in history. Students who wish to teach K-12 can do a licensure concentration. History students can take courses on:
- world civilizations
- U.S. history
- choose from a variety of electives
Fitchburg also offers faculty-led study abroad opportunities. Locations include:
- China
- Italy
- Germany
- Japan.
- Tuition: $16,910
- U.S. News Ranking: #97 Regional
- 20yr. Net ROI: $322,000
- Graduation/Transfer Rate: 84%
#6. William Jewell College
Website
Score: 84.69
William Jewell offers 66 study abroad programs to its students. This is incredible for those studying the history of other countries and cultures. William Jewell has had an active chapter of the history honor society for 60 years. History students will have access to internships that provide practical job experience. Internship locations include:
- local museums
- genealogical libraries
- law offices
The history degree finishes off with a capstone course in which students choose a subject and do in-depth historical research on it.
- Tuition: $19,310
- U.S. News Ranking: #8 Regional
- 20yr. Net ROI: $355,000
- Graduation/Transfer Rate: 65%
#7. Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania
Website
Score: 84.19
Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania offers a BA in history. History majors will do work in:
- American history
- European history
- non-western history
There is a BA/MA program that allows students to earn both degrees in five years. The History Club at Shippensburg organizes trips to local historical sites. There are even longer trips to Washington D.C. and Philadelphia. There is also an active chapter of the National History Honor Society at the university.
- Tuition: $14,272
- U.S. News Ranking: #94 Regional
- 20yr. Net ROI: $264,000
- Graduation/Transfer Rate: 86%
#8. Truman State University
Website
Score: 84.07
Truman State offers history students a choice between a BA or BS in history. The bachelor of science degree requires students to take two courses from a list. These include:
- research design
- logic
- experimental methods and survey research
- linguistics
The BA requires students to gain proficiency in one foreign language. This is the basic difference between the two degrees. Each degree requires five core history courses. Students may select another five history electives to complete the degree.
- Tuition: $16,410
- U.S. News Ranking: #6 Regional
- 20yr. Net ROI: $286,000
- Graduation/Transfer Rate: 72%
#9. SUNY at Purchase College
Website
Score: 83.12
The history degree at the State University of New York Purchase offers nine areas of interest. American history and European history are two common areas of study. Also available are:
- Asian studies
- Jewish history
- Latin American history
Students may also focus on:
- modern history
- women’s history
- early modern history
Ancient and medieval history is the final area of interest. Students can engage in supervised internships related to the profession of historian. Purchase is located just a little way north of New York City.
- Tuition: $18,863
- U.S. News Ranking: #155 National Liberal Arts
- 20yr. Net ROI: $245,000
- Graduation/Transfer Rate: 86%
#10. Worcester State University
Website
Score: 82.16
History majors can choose between three 4+1 bachelor’s/master’s programs. This allows students to earn their bachelor’s in history, and master’s in one of three areas. These areas are:
- nonprofit management
- public management
- public administration and policy
This is perfect for history majors who wish to apply their history education to another profession. Students can also take an educator concentration or a foreign service concentration.
- Tuition: $16,666
- U.S. News Ranking: #103 Regional
- 20yr. Net ROI: $269,000
- Graduation/Transfer Rate: 85%
#11. Dickinson State University
Website
Score: 81.67
History students at Dickinson complete 13-18 credits of basic history courses. The other 23 courses required for the major can be completed through electives. This gives students quite a bit of flexibility in their area of study. At least this is the case for students in the bachelor of arts in history degree program. The history education program is much more focused.
- Tuition: $9,942
- U.S. News Ranking: #48 Regional
- 20yr. Net ROI: $247,000
- Graduation/Transfer Rate: 68%
#12. Peru State College
Website
Score: 80.72
Students at Peru State University can choose between a BA in social science or BS in social science. The primary focus of this degree is history. However, the program supplements the extensive history education with other essential subjects. These include:
- economics
- geography
- political science
- psychology
- anthropology/sociology
This provides students with both a factual and contextual understanding of history.
- Tuition: $7,680
- U.S. News Ranking: #119 Regional
- 20yr. Net ROI: $255,000
- Graduation/Transfer Rate: 71%
#13. University of Houston-Victoria
Website
Score: 80.42
The University of Houston at Victoria offers a traditional and online BA in history. Students in the bachelor of arts program will take two foreign language classes as freshman and two as sophomores. Required history classes include:
- world history
- thinking like a historian
- historical research
Students can concentrate their studies using their ten elective courses.
- Tuition: $17,291
- U.S. News Ranking: #94 Regional
- 20yr. Net ROI: $387,000
- Graduation/Transfer Rate: 56%
#14. Regent University
Website
Score: 79.91
Regent is a Christian University that offers a BA in history. Core courses include:
- US history
- western civilization
- history of global Christianity
- historiography
The program is available on campus and online. All of the history classes are taught from a Christian perspective. On campus students are eligible for special scholarships, especially incoming freshmen.
- Tuition: $18,820
- U.S. News Ranking: #277 National
- 20yr. Net ROI: $349,000
- Graduation/Transfer Rate: 83%
#15. Southwestern Oklahoma State University
Website
Score: 77.26
Southwestern Oklahoma State offers both a BA in history and a BA in history education. One of the good things about a history degree is that any minor can be relevant to your studies. The required courses in this history BA are focused on US and European history. Students can use their electives and minor selection to incorporate other areas of historical study if they wish.
- Tuition: $15,023
- U.S. News Ranking: #82 Regional
- 20yr. Net ROI: $297,000
- Graduation/Transfer Rate: 58%
Frequently Asked Questions
Why limit tuition to no more than $20,000 per year?
At Great College Deals we are well aware of the financial challenge college poses for students. College is expensive. Even cheap college is expensive relative to most people’s finances. All of our articles are written with an eye for affordability. No matter where you live in the United States, you can benefit from knowing what options you have at an affordable price.
Lots of smaller colleges are still quite expensive. Liberal arts colleges like Colgate University, Williams College, or Barnard College can cost upwards of $50,000 per year. The thing is, federal financial aid (not including loans) caps out. And you can only find so many third party scholarships. So the lower your tuition overall, the better chance you have to minimize your undergraduate student loans.
History majors often choose to pursue master’s and Ph.D. programs. So if that’s your intent, minimizing your undergraduate costs is even more important. This means at the undergraduate level the best colleges are the most affordable colleges. Some of the colleges here also offer online degrees, which can go a long way to reducing costs.
What can I do with a history degree?
Most jobs in which you will apply your history degree directly will require at least a master’s degree. You need a Ph.D. if you want to be involved in academics and lead research. There are also plenty of professions in which you can apply your degree along with other knowledge gained from a graduate degree.
Many history majors go on to law school. Some branch out into other areas of social science like anthropology. Some become:
- librarians
- archivists
- museum curators
Career opportunities do exist for people with an undergraduate degree in history. Those with good communication skills might find work at museums or historical sites. One of the advantages of history is that it allows you to study a broad range of topics. This can increase your number of job opportunities if you’re creative. For advanced work in the field, finding the right graduate program is essential. Good graduate programs tend to be easier to get into than good undergraduate programs. So if your grades are good and you find ways to expand your horizons, you will have a good shot of getting into a great graduate program. Nobody really cares where you got your undergraduate degree if your master’s or Ph.D. is from a school like:
- Yale University
- Columbia University
- Harvard University
- or any number of other large, prestigious schools.
How much do historians make?
People who work directly in the field as researchers, museum curators, writers, and such make a median annual wage of $63,940 per year according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It’s not a large field, and has slow job growth. One of the best ways to work as a historian is as a college professor. College professors have a median annual salary of $79,640. Having the backing of a college or university for your research can be extremely beneficial.