From teaching the broad strokes of history to high school students to mentoring tomorrow's historians, journalists, and politicians through the difficult process of writing a dissertation at the graduate level, and from covering the events that shape the world for major news outlets to attempting to quantify and qualify their ramifications through commentary and mass-communications, the study of history can and will lead you to places that will likely be more exciting and more important than you ever imagined.

Find History Programs

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• American, European, or Non-Western history
• Economic and business history
• History and current issues
• Postwar Japan
• Gender issues in history
• Scientific revolutions and modern society
• History through film
• Science, technology, and culture throughout history
• American foreign relations
• Intellectual history

Types Of Associate, Undergraduate & Graduate Programs Available
Because there are so many aspects of the field of history you can choose to pursue, the degree options are fairly wide-open. An Associate's degree will often serve to prepare you for work on a Bachelor's degree, but the former is generally not an end in itself, but merely a means to the latter. Graduate degrees often serve to prepare students for specialization in a specific area of history, and therefore give them the tools necessary to pursue those interests. And as might be expected, the higher the degree in history, the greater the number of professional options the student will have upon graduation.

Typical Admissions Requirements
Because an Associate's degree in history is generally considered to be a gateway to a Bachelor's degree, a solid academic background and a strong interest in the field should be enough. For a Bachelor's degree, not only a solid academic background is necessary, but also a willingness to delve deeper into specific areas of the field. Graduate programs, because of their highly intellectual nature, tend to be fairly difficult to get into. However, with hard work and perseverance, you'll find that you can gain admission to them. When you do, you'll likely find that the rewards justify the effort.

Careers In This Field
While the study of history itself may be a rather intellectual pursuit, the jobs that graduates generally end up with are not necessarily so at all. Indeed, they range from the professorial to the political and cover a wide swath of ground in between. They include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Teacher or professor
• Archivist
• Documentary editor
• Work at a think tank
• Lawyer
• Politician
• Journalist
• Management and teaching at historic sites and museums
• Librarian
• Legislative staff work ( www.historians.org )LINK?

Salary Ranges In This Field
Because of the wide range of careers available to history majors, it is difficult to generalize their earning potential. Indeed, because a degree in history does not necessarily mean that you will work in education or at a museum, it is difficult to discuss, in general terms, the earning potential of those with a degree in history. CNN, however, provides a guide, based not on the degree one earns but rather on where one ultimately chooses to work:

"'The College Majors Handbook' found that salaries for history majors average $45,900 per year, better than the average for all social scientists but still about 5 percent below the average for all workers with a Bachelor's degree.

History majors who work for private, for-profit firms, the handbook shows, earned nearly $50,000, while self-employed history majors with their own businesses earn an average of $65,200 annually.

You may not get rich, but advocates of history degrees say you won't be hard up for work either.

'The people skills you learn as a history major will serve you well whether you go into teaching, law, communications, or anything else,' [ one expert] said. 'More and more history majors are starting to see that'." ( http://money.cnn.com )

Future Outlook
As is the case with most fields of study whose graduates may choose to pursue any number of careers, the outlook is, by its very nature, going to be one of generalizations. It is the best guide we have, though, and in this sense, it is not terribly different from history itself showing us the way to a still-murky future. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, however:

"Historians, political scientists, and sociologists will find jobs in policy or research. Historians may find opportunities with historic preservation societies as public interest in preserving and restoring historical sites increases. Political scientists will be able to utilize their knowledge of political institutions to further the interests of nonprofit, political lobbying, and social organizations. Sociologists may find work conducting policy research for consulting firms and nonprofit organizations, and their knowledge of society and social behavior may be used by a variety of companies in product development, marketing, and advertising. Job growth will be very slow in the Federal Government, a key employer of social scientists" ( www.bls.gov ).

Resources

1. www.historians.org (The American Historical Association)
2. www.oah.org (The Organization of American Historians)
3. www.aaslh.org (The American Association for State and Local History)