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Historic Preservation Major

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Historic Preservation

108 Bachelor's Degrees Annually
199 Master's Degrees Annually
#285 in Popularity
$56,400 Median Salary

Types of Degrees Historic Preservation Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many historic preservation graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level Number of Grads
Master’s Degree 199
Bachelor’s Degree 108
Graduate Certificate 64
Basic Certificate 21
Undergraduate Certificate 15
Associate Degree 6
Doctor’s Degree 3

What Historic Preservation Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to historic preservation and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important.

Knowledge Areas for Historic Preservation Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in historic preservation should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

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  • History and Archeology - Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
  • English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
  • Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
  • Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
  • Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

Skills for Historic Preservation Majors

The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to historic preservation:

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  • Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
  • Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
  • Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
  • Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
  • Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.

Abilities for Historic Preservation Majors

As you progress with your historic preservation degree, there are several abilities you should pick up that will help you in whatever related career you choose. These abilities include:

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  • Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
  • Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
  • Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
  • Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
  • Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.

What Can You Do With a Historic Preservation Major?

People with a historic preservation degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title Job Growth Rate Median Salary
Archivists 14.7% $52,240
Historians 6.1% $61,140

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Historic Preservation?

108 Bachelor's Degrees Annually
76% Percent Women
10% Percent Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
This is a less frequently chosen undergraduate major. Only 108 students graduated with a bachelor’s degree in historic preservation in 2021, making it rank #285 in popularity. This major is dominated by women with about 76% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of historic preservation majors is as follows:

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Race/Ethnicity Number of Grads
Asian 2
Black or African American 0
Hispanic or Latino 4
White 93
International Students 2
Other Races/Ethnicities 7

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Historic Preservation, too. About 1.9% of those with this major are international students. The most popular countries for students from outside the country are:

  • China
  • India
  • Saudi Arabia
  • South Korea
  • Taiwan

How Much Do Historic Preservation Majors Make?

Bachelor’s Degree Starting Salary

The median starting salary of students who graduated in 2017-2019 with a bachelor’s degree in historic preservation was $27,274 per year. These stats come from the U.S. Department of Education. During this timeframe, most salaries fell between $25,717 (25th percentile) and $28,830 (75th percentile).

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One thing to note here is that not all of these people may be working in careers related to historic preservation.

Salaries According to BLS

Historic Preservation majors often go into careers where salaries can range from $56,400 to $66,380 (25th to 75th percentile). This range includes all degree levels, so you may expect those with a more advanced degree to make more while those with less advanced degrees will typically make less.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Median Salary for a Historic Preservation Major  ( 56400 to 66380 )
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250K
Median Salary for a High School Graduate  ( 30000 to 57900 )
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250K
Median Salary for a Bachelor's Degree Holder  ( 45600 to 99000 )
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250K
Median Salary for an Advanced Degree Holder  ( 55600 to 125400 )
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250K

Some careers associated with historic preservation require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

Find out what the typical degree level is for historic preservation careers below.

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Education Level Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma 3.2%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED) 3.3%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production) 5.4%
Some College Courses 6.4%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree) 0.2%
Bachelor’s Degree 15.6%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master. 2.1%
Master’s Degree 60.5%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level. 3.4%

Online Historic Preservation Programs

In the 2020-2021 academic year, 77 schools offered some type of historic preservation program. The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level Colleges Offering Programs Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year) 0 0
Certificate (1-2 years) 6 0
Certificate (2-4 Years) 2 0
Associate’s Degree 6 0
Bachelor’s Degree 27 1
Post-Baccalaureate 0 0
Master’s Degree 42 3
Post-Master’s 10 0
Doctor’s Degree (Research) 3 0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice) 0 0
Doctor’s Degree (Other) 0 0

Is a Degree in Historic Preservation Worth It?

The median salary for a historic preservation grad is $56,400 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 41% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $330,000 after 20 years!

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You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to historic preservation.

Major Number of Grads
Other Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies 34,975
Biological & Physical Science 30,075
Interdisciplinary Studies 9,074
International Studies 7,368
Nutrition Science 5,330
Behavioral Science 4,169
Sustainability Science 3,005
Cognitive Science 2,776
Natural Sciences 2,214
Human Biology 1,939
Human Computer Interaction 1,857
Computational Science 1,360
Data Analytics 1,338
Mathematics & Computer Science 1,302
Gerontology 1,234
Peace Studies & Conflict Resolution 1,175
Science, Technology & Society 1,095
Systems Theory 884
Museum Studies 816
Dispute Resolution 648
Data Science 541
Multicultural & Diversity Studies 482
Cultural Studies & Analysis 405
Marine Science 334
Classical & Ancient Studies 275
Biopsychology 183
Medieval Studies 104
Philosophy, Politics, and Economics 97
History and Political Science 66
Holocaust Studies 66
Maritime Studies 50
Accounting & Computer Science 48
Earth Systems Science 44
Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature 42
Geography and Environmental Studies 40
Environmental Geosciences 20
Anthrozoology 13
Digital Humanities and Textual Studies 12
Mathematical Economics 10
Linguistics and Computer Science 6
Linguistics and Anthropology 4
Economics and Computer Science 2
History and Language/Literature 0
Thanatology 0

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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