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2025 Best History Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

57 Colleges in the Great Lakes Region
2,881 Bachelor's Degrees
$31,603 Avg Early-Career Salary
History is of the hottest bachelor's degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #20 most popular major in the country. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.

College Factual reviewed 57 schools in the Great Lakes Region to determine which ones were the best for bachelor's degree seekers in the field of history. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 2,881 bachelor's degrees in history during the 2022-2023 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great History School for Your Bachelor's Degree

Best History Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region The history bachelor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality history program can vary widely even among the top schools. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:

Overall Quality Is a Must

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Average Early-Career Salaries

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their bachelor's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your bachelor's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for history students working on their bachelor's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More History Rankings Other Ranking Categories

When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best History Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list to help you make the college decision.

To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study History in the Great Lakes Region

Learn about the top ranked colleges and universities for history students seeking a a bachelor's degree. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.

11 Top Great Lakes Region Schools for a Bachelor's in History

1

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in history. U-M is a fairly large public university located in the medium-sized city of Ann Arbor.

After graduation, history bachelor's recipients usually make an average of $31,215 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a bachelor’s in history from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

2

Any student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in history has to take a look at Northwestern University. Northwestern is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the small city of Evanston.

Those history students who get their bachelor's degree from Northwestern University receive $18,558 more than the average history graduate.

More information about a bachelor’s in history from Northwestern University

3

Every student who is interested in a bachelor's degree in history has to check out University of Wisconsin - Madison. Located in the large city of Madison, UW - Madison is a public university with a very large student population.

Those history students who get their bachelor's degree from University of Wisconsin - Madison earn $4,356 more than the typical history grad.

More information about a bachelor’s in history from University of Wisconsin - Madison

4

It is difficult to beat University of Notre Dame if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in history. Located in the large suburb of Notre Dame, Notre Dame is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.

Bachelor's recipients from the history program at University of Notre Dame make $7,919 more than the average graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a bachelor’s in history from University of Notre Dame

5
120 Annual Graduates
$26,663 Median Starting Salary
$21,821 Median Student Debt

Ohio State is a very large public university located in the city of Columbus.

Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the history program make about $26,663 in the first couple years of their career.

More information about a bachelor’s in history from Ohio State University - Main Campus

6

IU Bloomington is a very large public university located in the small city of Bloomington.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the history program state that they receive average early career earnings of $31,880.

More information about a bachelor’s in history from Indiana University - Bloomington

7
94 Annual Graduates
$26,436 Median Starting Salary
$32,145 Median Student Debt

Located in the small city of Champaign, UIUC is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Soon after graduating, history bachelor's recipients typically make around $26,436 in their early careers.

More information about a bachelor’s in history from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

8
50 Annual Graduates
$31,079 Median Starting Salary
$61,218 Median Student Debt

Located in the large city of Chicago, Loyola Chicago is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.

Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the history program earn about $31,079 for their early career.

More information about a bachelor’s in history from Loyola University Chicago

9
111 Annual Graduates
$40,465 Median Starting Salary
$36,878 Median Student Debt

Located in the suburb of Normal, Illinois State is a public university with a very large student population.

Those history students who get their bachelor's degree from Illinois State University receive $8,862 more than the average history student.

More information about a bachelor’s in history from Illinois State University

10
Michigan State crest
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI
64 Annual Graduates
$32,434 Median Starting Salary
$53,518 Median Student Debt

Located in the city of East Lansing, Michigan State is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the history program state that they receive average early career income of $32,434.

More information about a bachelor’s in history from Michigan State University

11
Marquette crest
Marquette University
Milwaukee, WI

Located in the city of Milwaukee, Marquette is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.

Bachelor's recipients from the history major at Marquette University earn $5,304 above the average college graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

More information about a bachelor’s in history from Marquette University

Additional Noteworthy Schools

Here are some additional great schools for History students in the Great Lakes Region that almost earned our Best History Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region award.

Rank College Location
12 Central Michigan University Mount Pleasant, MI
13 University of Cincinnati - Main Campus Cincinnati, OH
14 University of Illinois at Chicago Chicago, IL
15 Northern Illinois University Dekalb, IL
16 Ohio University - Athens Campus Athens, OH
17 Wabash College Crawfordsville, IN
18 Purdue University - Main Campus West Lafayette, IN
19 University of Akron Main Campus Akron, OH

Best History Colleges by State

Explore the best history schools for a specific state in the Great Lakes Region .

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Michigan 261 544
Ohio 252 808
Illinois 241 828
Indiana 235 452
Wisconsin 213 496

View All Rankings >

One of 0 majors within the History area of study, History has other similar majors worth exploring.

History Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
General History 2,852
Public/Applied History 14
Other History 10
History and Philosophy of Science and Technology 3
Military History 2

Notes and References

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