The Best Colleges for History Majors
Understanding history is key to understanding the modern world. A comprehensive history education is indispensable when it comes to many careers, such as those in politics, law, archeology, sociology, and journalism.
Are you interested in majoring in history? Here are some of the most comprehensive and well-respected history programs in the US. This list includes private research universities, state schools, and small liberal arts colleges to fit any type of college you’re looking for.
Private Research Universities
Yale University
Ivy League universities unsurprisingly dominate the list of the US’s strongest history programs. Yale, like other Ivy League schools, has been around longer than most US colleges and thus has an extensive historical library. Yale also has large numbers of historical faculty. The Yale history major requires ten courses and a senior thesis. However, these ten courses can be any courses within the history major, with no specific course requirements. This allows history students to explore any topics that they’re interested in. There are two different tracks for the history major: the global track or the specialist track.
Harvard University
Harvard’s history program is one of the most selective and acclaimed in the world, with over 50 faculty members, interdisciplinary programs, and many opportunities post graduation. History can be chosen as either a primary concentration or a secondary field of study. History as a primary concentration necessitates 12 courses, while history as your secondary field of study only requires you to take 5 courses. The history department at Harvard also optionally allows you to select one of three concentration programs within the major: Ancient History, East Asian History, and Near Eastern History.
Columbia University
The Columbia history program, which also teaches students at Barnard, is known for the wide breadth of its courses both geographically and temporally. Columbia additionally has a strong record of students securing career opportunities after receiving their history degree, in areas such as teaching, finance, management, or marketing. The Columbia history major requires students to choose a specialization and create their own course plan. Rather than being confined to specific concentrations designated by the university, students can pick any period of history to focus on and must take courses within and outside their specialization.
Stanford University
Stanford offers a variety of degrees in history, including a Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Arts and Sciences, Master of Arts, and PHD. In addition, students can seek a history minor. The history major requires 63 units, or 13 courses. The history program at Stanford requires students to meet with their faculty advisors every semester to plan out their major. In addition, a course called WIM (Writing in the Major) is required to write an honors thesis. WIM consists of a 20-25 page research essay and hones the skills necessary to produce an honors thesis or capstone.
Princeton University
Princeton is one of the world’s most acclaimed and prestigious universities, and its history program is no exception. Princeton’s history major offers a wide breadth of 40 courses. These courses not only span two thousand years of history and focus on every continent, but Princeton’s history program also has a thematic requirement. History majors and minors must take at least one course focused on: Power and Conflict, Knowledge & Belief, Pre-Modern, and Race and Difference. History courses are interdisciplinary, intersecting with economics, environmental studies, political science, and many other areas of subject. Requirement of the history major involves a junior research seminar, two junior papers, and a senior thesis.
State Universities
University of California, Berkeley
UC Berkeley consistently ranks as one of the top state universities in the nation. Though UC Berkeley is mainly known for its computer science programs, its history program is just as strong and well-respected. Primarily, UC Berkeley is known for its cultural history, but its program also encompasses a wide variety of courses concerning economic, social, and political history, to name a few. The history major requires courses from at least three different geographic areas, a Sources and Methods class, a proseminar, and a research seminar. Students can also decide on a field of concentration, although this is no longer required.
University of California, Los Angeles
UCLA’s history program includes internationally renowned faculty, prize-winning scholars, and first-rate advising for potential and current history majors. Potential careers for UCLA history majors include education, medicine, journalism, law, business, and public service. In order to apply for the history major, students must take three pre-major courses and receive a GPA over 2.0. The major itself requires two upper-level courses from US history, European history, and non-western history. Two additional courses are also required, one of which being a capstone seminar.
University of Michigan
The history program at the University of Michigan is hosted by the LSA College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. The University of Michigan encourages the customization of your history curriculum. You can choose a ‘theme’ for your major concerning a particular geographic, temporal, social, or other subject matter. The major also requires a survey sequence. This consists of two courses linked together conceptually and allows students to begin considering what they want to choose as the theme of their course of study. Seniors, or, less commonly, juniors are required to take a colloquium course which consists of extensive research, reading, writing, and discussion.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
UNC Chapel Hill is exceptionally well known for its history department, with its faculty frequently being the most accomplished and rewarded at the entire University. UNC Chapel Hill also offers eight concentrations within its history major, one of the highest number of concentrations offered by a university. These include:
- Ancient/Medieval
- African, Asian, and Middle Eastern
- Gender and Women
- Global
- Latin American
- Modern European
- Russian, Eurasian, and East European
- United States
Ten courses are required, and at least four have to fall within the student’s concentration. In addition, no matter the student’s concentration, at least one course is required within the African, Asian, and Middle Eastern category, or within the Latin American category.
University of Texas at Austin
UT Austin has one of the largest history programs in the country, with 60 faculty members and being the #1 history program in Texas. Students go onto study law, teaching, government and public policy, and other careers. The history major at UT Austin requires 30 hours of coursework, most of which being in residence (in-person learning) at the University. Students are required to take US history, and twelve hours of coursework in at least four of the following geographic areas: Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America, Middle East, or Transnational. All history majors are required to complete a minor or certificate along with their history major.
Small Liberal Arts Colleges
Some students thrive in smaller liberal arts colleges as compared to large research institutions.
Amherst College
As a liberal arts college, history is an essential component of a student’s experience at Amherst, no matter what they choose to major in, as the college emphasizes the importance of history in all fields of study. Amherst history majors go on to pursue law, medicine, education, and a wide variety of other career options. Students may choose an area of concentration. This concentration can either focus on a geographic area, a specific topic such as colonialism or gender, or a comparative history of two or more geographic regions. Students can also choose to pursue a thematic concentration. These include “Cultures, Ideas, and Emotions,” “Empires, Nations, and Encounters,” “Histories of Race and Racism,” and “Social Justice, Rights, and Inequality.”
Williams College
Williams, as a small liberal arts college, offers more intensive history education than some larger schools. For example, Williams involves tutorials: classes with no more than four students, sometimes as one-to-one classes, modeled after the Oxford style of education. The history major consists of at least nine courses, including two seminars and seven courses spanning a variety of electives. Students must also take a course from the premodern period. Students are encouraged, but not required, to design a concentration using three courses following a consistent theme, geographic area, or temporal period. In addition, though it is not required, many history students study a foreign language and study abroad in their junior year.
Swarthmore College
A unique aspect of Swarthmore’s prestigious history program is the opportunity to graduate with a teaching certificate. Under the umbrella of Swarthmore’s history program is a variety of interdisciplinary programs, including but not limited to Black Studies, Environmental Studies, Islamic Studies, and Asian Studies. Swarthmore possesses a world-class library archive in the form of the McCabe Library. Additionally, due to Swarthmore’s easy access to Philadelphia, students can also access the libraries of Philadelphia colleges such as University of Pennsylvania, Temple, and Drexel. The history major requires nine courses and culminates in a Senior Research Seminar.
Wellesley College
Wellesley is consistently ranked one of the top women’s colleges in the country. The major consists of nine credits. Majors have a wide range of classes and subjects to choose when designing their curriculum, but Wellesley emphasizes an education consisting of both breadth and depth. At least one course in non-western history, one in western history, and one in premodern history are required to count towards the nine-course requirement for the major. Although the history major has no official concentrations, students are encouraged to specialize in a particular field of study, such as a geographic area, a time period, a historical approach, or a historical theme.
Every college with a history program has something unique to offer. Whether you already know what type of history you want to concentrate on, or whether you want to experiment with different focuses, there is a college for you.
