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2023 Best History Master's Degree Schools

255 Colleges
$38,715 Avg Salary

Finding the Best History Master's Degree School for You

In 2020-2021, 4,391 people earned a degree or certificate in history, making the major the #55 most popular in the United States.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which program is right for you. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Grad Degree Search has created its Best History Master's Degree Schools ranking. Our analysis looked at 255 schools in the United States to see which master's degree programs offered the best educational experiences for students. To come up with a school's ranking, we analyzed numerous factors related to post-graduation wages, the quality of education offered by the school, average accumulated student debt, and more.

View our full ranking methodology.

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

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

Top 25 Top Schools for a Master'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 master’s degree. Princeton is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Princeton.

Full History at Princeton University Report

#2

University of Notre Dame

Notre Dame, IN

Out of the 255 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Notre Dame landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in the large suburb of Notre Dame, Notre Dame is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

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#3

Yale University

New Haven, CT

The excellent master’s degree programs at Yale University helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best history schools in the United States. Located in the medium-sized city of New Haven, Yale is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

Full History at Yale University Report

#4

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 #4 on this year’s Best History Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.

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#5

Duke University

Durham, NC

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Duke University. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best History Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the large city of Durham, Duke is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.

Full History at Duke University Report

#6

Brown University

Providence, RI

With a ranking of #6, Brown University did quite well on this year’s best schools for history students working on their master’s degree. Brown is a large private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Providence.

Read full report on History at Brown University

#7

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA

With a ranking of #7, Harvard University did quite well on this year’s best schools for history students working on their master’s degree. Located in the medium-sized city of Cambridge, Harvard is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.

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#8

Georgetown University

Washington, DC

Georgetown University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best History Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Georgetown is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Washington.

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#9

Tufts University

Medford, MA

With a ranking of #9, Tufts University did quite well on this year’s best schools for history students working on their master’s degree. Tufts is a large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Medford.

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#10

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL

Northwestern University landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree history programs. Located in the small city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.

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#11

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL

University of Chicago ranked #11 on this year’s Best History Master’s Degree Schools list. UChicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Chicago.

Read full report on History at University of Chicago

#12

Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN

Vanderbilt University landed the #12 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree history programs. Located in the large city of Nashville, Vanderbilt is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

Full History at Vanderbilt University Report

#13

University of Virginia - Main Campus

Charlottesville, VA

University of Virginia - Main Campus ranked #13 on this year’s Best History Master’s Degree Schools list. University of Virginia is a very large public school located in the small suburb of Charlottesville.

Read full report on History at University of Virginia - Main Campus

#14

New York University

New York, NY

New York University came in at #14 in this year’s edition of the Best History Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the large city of New York, NYU is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.

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#15

Monmouth University

West Long Branch, NJ

Monmouth University landed the #15 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree history programs. Monmouth is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of West Long Branch.

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#16

Ashland University

Ashland, OH

Ashland University came in at #16 in this year’s edition of the Best History Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the fringe town of Ashland, Ashland is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Full History at Ashland University Report

American Public University System came in at #17 in this year’s edition of the Best History Master’s Degree Schools ranking. American Military University is a fairly large private for-profit school located in the fringe town of Charles Town.

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#18

Salisbury University

Salisbury, MD

Salisbury University came in at #18 in this year’s edition of the Best History Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the suburb of Salisbury, Salisbury is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

Full History at Salisbury University Report

With a ranking of #19, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign did quite well on this year’s best schools for history students working on their master’s degree. Located in the small city of Champaign, UIUC is a public college with a very large student population.

Read full report on History at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

#20

Emory University

Atlanta, GA

Emory University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for history students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #20 on the list. Located in the city of Atlanta, Emory is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.

Full History at Emory University Report

#21

George Washington University

Washington, DC

George Washington University ranked #21 on this year’s Best History Master’s Degree Schools list. GWU is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Washington.

Full History at George Washington University Report

University of Nebraska at Kearney ranked #22 on this year’s Best History Master’s Degree Schools list. UNK is a moderately-sized public school located in the town of Kearney.

Read full report on History at University of Nebraska at Kearney

#23

Boston College

Chestnut Hill, MA

Boston College came in at #23 in this year’s edition of the Best History Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Boston College is a large private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Chestnut Hill.

Full History at Boston College Report

#24

Virginia Tech

Blacksburg, VA

Virginia Tech did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for history students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #24 on the list. Virginia Tech is a fairly large public school located in the small city of Blacksburg.

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With a ranking of #25, Citadel Military College of South Carolina did quite well on this year’s best schools for history students working on their master’s degree. The Citadel is a small public school located in the medium-sized city of Charleston.

Full History at Citadel Military College of South Carolina Report

Rest of the Top Best History Master's Degree Schools

#26

Norwich University

Northfield, VT
#31

University of Northern Iowa

Cedar Falls, IA
#32

Cornell University

Ithaca, NY
#33

Boston University

Boston, MA
#38

SUNY Cortland

Cortland, NY

Additional Noteworthy Schools

Here are some additional great schools for History students that almost earned our Best History Master's Degree Schools award.

Rank College Location
39 University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT
40 Arizona State University - Tempe Tempe, AZ
41 Minnesota State University - Mankato Mankato, MN
42 Millersville University of Pennsylvania Millersville, PA
43 Iowa State University Ames, IA
44 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC
45 University of California - Berkeley Berkeley, CA
46 University of Nebraska - Lincoln Lincoln, NE
47 North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC
48 Texas A&M University - College Station College Station, TX
49 University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA
50 University of California - Davis Davis, CA
51 University of Houston - Clear Lake Houston, TX

History by Region

View the Best History Master'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

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).

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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