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Best History Bachelor's Degree Schools

2023 Best History Bachelor's Degree Schools

418 Colleges
$29,648 Avg Salary
$23,614 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best History Bachelor's Degree School for You

In 2020-2021, 32,731 people earned a degree or certificate in history, making the major the #23 most popular in the United States.

There are so many programs in today's world that it can tough to figure out which one is the right one for you. You're no longer limited to schools in your local area, either, since online programs are becoming more prevalent. Or you may find the programs at a trade school to be a better alternative for you.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best History Bachelor's Degree Schools ranking. Our analysis looked at 418 schools in the United States to see which bachelor's degree programs offered the best educational experiences for students. The factors used to develop this ranking include those related to how in-demand the school is, the overall quality of the school, and post-graduation wages, and more.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best History Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the United States

Check out the history bachelor's degree programs at these schools if you want to get the best education that money can buy.

Top 25 Top Schools for a Bachelor's in History

#1

Princeton University

Princeton, NJ

Our 2023 rankings named Princeton University the best school in the United States for history students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the city of Princeton, Princeton is a private not-for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.

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#2

University of Notre Dame

Notre Dame, IN

The excellent bachelor’s degree programs at University of Notre Dame helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best history schools in the United States. Notre Dame is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Notre Dame.

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#3

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of Pennsylvania. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best History Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. UPenn is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Philadelphia.

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#4

Duke University

Durham, NC

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Duke University. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best History Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. Duke is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Durham.

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#5

Yale University

New Haven, CT

Out of the 418 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Yale University landed the # 5 spot on the list. Yale is a large private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of New Haven.

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#6

Brown University

Providence, RI

Brown University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best History Bachelor’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the midsize city of Providence, Brown is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.

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With a ranking of #7, American Public University System did quite well on this year’s best schools for history students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the fringe town of Charles Town, American Military University is a private for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

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#8

Williams College

Williamstown, MA

Williams College came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best History Bachelor’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the town of Williamstown, Williams is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

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#9

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA

Harvard University came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best History Bachelor’s Degree Schools ranking. Harvard is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Cambridge.

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#10

Dartmouth College

Hanover, NH

With a ranking of #10, Dartmouth College did quite well on this year’s best schools for history students working on their bachelor’s degree. Dartmouth is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the town of Hanover.

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#11

Amherst College

Amherst, MA

Amherst College landed the #11 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best bachelor’s degree history programs. Located in the suburb of Amherst, Amherst is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

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#12

Georgetown University

Washington, DC

Georgetown University ranked #12 on this year’s Best History Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the large city of Washington, Georgetown is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

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#13

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL

Northwestern University came in at #13 in this year’s edition of the Best History Bachelor’s Degree Schools ranking. Northwestern is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Evanston.

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#14

College of the Holy Cross

Worcester, MA

College of the Holy Cross landed the #14 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best bachelor’s degree history programs. Located in the city of Worcester, Holy Cross is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

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#15

Wake Forest University

Winston-Salem, NC

Wake Forest University came in at #15 in this year’s edition of the Best History Bachelor’s Degree Schools ranking. Wake Forest University is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Winston-Salem.

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#16

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL

With a ranking of #16, University of Chicago did quite well on this year’s best schools for history students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the large city of Chicago, UChicago is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.

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#17

Tufts University

Medford, MA

Tufts University ranked #17 on this year’s Best History Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the suburb of Medford, Tufts is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.

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#18

Virginia Military Institute

Lexington, VA

Virginia Military Institute ranked #18 on this year’s Best History Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the town of Lexington, VMI is a public school with a small student population.

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#19

Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN

Vanderbilt University ranked #19 on this year’s Best History Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. Vanderbilt is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Nashville.

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#20

University of Virginia - Main Campus

Charlottesville, VA

University of Virginia - Main Campus ranked #20 on this year’s Best History Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the small suburb of Charlottesville, University of Virginia is a public school with a fairly large student population.

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#21

Centre College

Danville, KY

Centre College landed the #21 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best bachelor’s degree history programs. Located in the town of Danville, Centre College of Kentucky is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

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#22

Boston College

Chestnut Hill, MA

With a ranking of #22, Boston College did quite well on this year’s best schools for history students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the small city of Chestnut Hill, Boston College is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ranked #23 on this year’s Best History Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. UIUC is a fairly large public school located in the small city of Champaign.

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#24

New York University

New York, NY

With a ranking of #24, New York University did quite well on this year’s best schools for history students working on their bachelor’s degree. NYU is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of New York.

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#25

Kenyon College

Gambier, OH

Kenyon College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for history students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #25 on the list. Located in the town of Gambier, Kenyon is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

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Rest of the Top Best History Bachelor's Degree Schools

#26

Salisbury University

Salisbury, MD
#27

Gonzaga University

Spokane, WA
#29

Emory University

Atlanta, GA
#30

George Washington University

Washington, DC
#31

National University

La Jolla, CA
#32

Monmouth University

West Long Branch, NJ
#34

Virginia Tech

Blacksburg, VA
#35

Ashland University

Ashland, OH
#40

Barnard College

New York, NY
#41

The College of Wooster

Wooster, OH
#42

SUNY Cortland

Cortland, NY
#46

University of Northern Iowa

Cedar Falls, IA
#48

Gettysburg College

Gettysburg, PA
#49

Nevada State College

Henderson, NV

Additional Award Winners

This section represents the rest of the colleges awarded a Best History Bachelor's Degree Schools badge. Showing in this list means the college was ranked in the top 15% of the 418 different United States history schools we analyzed.

Rank College Location
51 Cornell University Ithaca, NY
52 University of Scranton Scranton, PA
53 Millersville University of Pennsylvania Millersville, PA
54 University of California - Berkeley Berkeley, CA
55 Sam Houston State University Huntsville, TX
56 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC
57 Columbia College Columbia, MO
58 University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh Oshkosh, WI
59 Texas A&M University - College Station College Station, TX
60 University of California - Davis Davis, CA
61 Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania Slippery Rock, PA
62 University of Wisconsin - Madison Madison, WI

Honorable Mentions

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best History Bachelor's Degree Schools award.

Rank College Location
63 Towson University Towson, MD
64 University of Maryland - College Park College Park, MD
65 Middlebury College Middlebury, VT
66 Boston University Boston, MA
67 Stephen F Austin State University Nacogdoches, TX
68 Smith College Northampton, MA
69 University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT
70 University of Mary Washington Fredericksburg, VA
71 Wabash College Crawfordsville, IN
72 Iowa State University Ames, IA
73 Minnesota State University - Mankato Mankato, MN
74 University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA
75 William & Mary Williamsburg, VA
76 University of Houston - Clear Lake Houston, TX
77 Kean University Union, NJ
78 Wellesley College Wellesley, MA
79 University of Nebraska - Lincoln Lincoln, NE
80 University of California - Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA
81 Utah State University Logan, UT
82 Oakland University Rochester Hills, MI
83 North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC

History by Region

View the Best History Bachelor's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Great Lakes

History Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
History 32,731

Related Major Annual Graduates
Education 327,871
Social Sciences 205,984
Psychology 195,678
Communication & Journalism 120,571
Family, Consumer & Human Sciences 55,820

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.

  • Read more about our ranking methodology.
  • The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
  • Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
  • Credit for the banner image above goes to Abraham Ortelius.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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