Public/Applied History Degrees (2026 stats)
TL;DR
Public/Applied History maps to BLS occupations averaging about $150,703, with roughly 2,351,340 workers nationwide in those roles. Median in-state published tuition is about $9,642; common paths include Lawyers and Public Safety Telecommunicators.
Key Statistics
Public/Applied History: what the data shows
Common questions about public/applied history degrees, answered from IPEDS, College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, and O*NET in this repository—not program marketing copy.
What is a public/applied history degree?
A Public/Applied History program is classified under NCES CIP 54.0105 in the History field family (54.01).
A program that focuses on the application of history and administrative skills to the recording of public events and the management of related historical resources. Includes instruction in historical research methods, the planning and administration of public history projects, and applications to specific problems in public organizations, government agencies, foundations, and other facilities
IPEDS counted 57 completions for this CIP in the survey year in our extract.
Types of public/applied history degrees and related programs
Other NCES program codes in the 54.01 family with pages on EDsmart Data:
- American History (United States) (CIP 54.0102)
- Asian History (CIP 54.0106)
- Canadian History (CIP 54.0107)
- European History (CIP 54.0103)
- History and Philosophy of Science and Technology (CIP 54.0104)
- History, General (CIP 54.0101)
- Military History (CIP 54.0108)
How long does it take to get a public/applied history degree?
Award levels reported to IPEDS for CIP 54.0105 in our file:
- 89 Associate (34.9% of IPEDS total)—about two years of full-time study
- 57 Bachelor's (22.4% of IPEDS total)—typically four years
- 109 Master's (42.7% of IPEDS total)—one to two years beyond a bachelor's
Time to completion depends on enrollment intensity and transfer credits; figures above describe credential type, not calendar time for every student.
What degree do you need?
For Lawyers (top mapped occupation), O*NET incumbent surveys in our career profile report these education credentials most often: Some college (29%), High School or Equivalent (27%), Bachelors Degree (22%).
O*NET education distributions describe incumbent workers, not minimum legal or employer requirements.
What jobs can you get with a public/applied history degree?
Our degree→occupation mapping links Public/Applied History to the BLS roles below. Employment is U.S. OEWS; median wage is national May 2024 where published in our extract.
| Occupation | U.S. employment | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Lawyers | 747,750 | $151,160 |
| Public Safety Telecommunicators | 101,140 | $50,730 |
| History Teachers, Postsecondary | 19,860 | $81,500 |
| Elementary School Teachers | 1,393,310 | $62,340 |
| Judicial Law Clerks | 13,220 | $60,400 |
| Public Relations Managers | 76,060 | $138,520 |
See Careers & Jobs for mean wages and industry context.
Is a public/applied history degree worth it?
College Scorecard national medians for the History bachelor's program family: median debt $30,706, median earnings $50,680 four years after enrollment. Debt-to-earnings proxy: 0.98.
About 6.8% of graduates in this field family were not working and not enrolled one year after completion in Scorecard's national program medians.
Among schools reporting in our Scorecard extract, median published in-state tuition is $9,642 and median net price is $17,743.
We do not score "worth" on opinion—compare debt, earnings, wages for mapped occupations, and completion data above against your cost and career target.
Institutions
Information about the types of higher education institutions that grant degrees in Public/Applied History and the types of students that study this field.
Tuition Costs for Common Institutions
$9,642 Median In-State Public
$40,490 Median Out of State Private
Tuition costs for Public/Applied History majors are, on average, $9,642 for in-state public colleges, and $40,490 for out of state private colleges.
Tuition costs comparison for Public/Applied History programs.
Degrees Awarded Over Time
100,000 Total Degrees Awarded in 2023
This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in Public/Applied History from 2015 to 2023.
Historical trend of degrees awarded in Public/Applied History.
Top 5 Schools by Enrollment
| # | School | State | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Southern New Hampshire University | NH | 163,164 |
| 2 | Southern New Hampshire University | NH | 163,164 |
| 3 | University of Phoenix-Arizona | AZ | 85,991 |
| 4 | Grand Canyon University | AZ | 73,371 |
| 5 | Arizona State University Campus Immersion | AZ | 64,674 |
Schools with the largest enrollment offering Public/Applied History programs.
Top 5 Most Affordable Tuition
| # | School | State | Tuition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barstow Community College | CA | $1,104 |
| 2 | Taft College | CA | $1,108 |
| 3 | Antelope Valley Community College District | CA | $1,124 |
| 4 | Woodland Community College | CA | $1,124 |
| 5 | Yuba College | CA | $1,128 |
Schools with the lowest tuition costs for Public/Applied History programs.
Top 5 Lowest Net Price
| # | School | State | Net Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Canada College | CA | $32 |
| 2 | College of the Sequoias | CA | $480 |
| 3 | College of San Mateo | CA | $536 |
| 4 | Henry Ford College | MI | $660 |
| 5 | Imperial Valley College | CA | $1,115 |
Schools with the lowest average net price for Public/Applied History programs.
Graduation Rates
Graduation rate data is not available for this degree program.
Graduation/completion rates for Public/Applied History programs across institutions.
Where students complete this major (IPEDS)
Bachelor's-level completions (IPEDS Completions, award level 5) summed by institution state. State is taken from IPEDS Directory (HD2023) for each reporting institution.
Geographic concentration
The largest number of reported bachelor's completions for Public/Applied History is in PA (12 completions). That state represents about 21.1% of U.S. bachelor's completions reported for this CIP in the IPEDS file we use.
Among states, the highest concentration relative to all bachelor's degrees awarded in-state is ND (0.04% of that state's bachelor's completions).
Top states by count of bachelor's completions for this CIP (IPEDS).
| State | Bachelor's completions (this CIP) | % of U.S. total (this CIP) | % of state's all bachelor's |
|---|---|---|---|
| PA | 12 | 21.1% | 0.01% |
| CA | 9 | 15.8% | 0.00% |
| MI | 9 | 15.8% | 0.01% |
| MA | 6 | 10.5% | 0.01% |
| ND | 5 | 8.8% | 0.04% |
| FL | 4 | 7.0% | 0.00% |
| AR | 3 | 5.3% | 0.01% |
| NY | 3 | 5.3% | 0.00% |
| OH | 3 | 5.3% | 0.00% |
| AL | 1 | 1.8% | 0.00% |
| ID | 1 | 1.8% | 0.00% |
| NC | 1 | 1.8% | 0.00% |
Related specializations
Other NCES program codes in the 54.01 CIP family with dedicated pages on EDsmart Data.
- American History (United States) CIP 54.0102
- Asian History CIP 54.0106
- Canadian History CIP 54.0107
- European History CIP 54.0103
- History and Philosophy of Science and Technology CIP 54.0104
- History, General CIP 54.0101
- Military History CIP 54.0108
Degree Levels (IPEDS)
Completions reported to IPEDS for CIP 54.0105 in the survey year used in our extract (255 total across levels below).
- 89 Associate (34.9% of IPEDS total)
- 57 Bachelor's (22.4% of IPEDS total)
- 109 Master's (42.7% of IPEDS total)
Source: IPEDS Completions (c2024_a), summed by award level for this CIP.
Careers & Jobs
Occupations linked to this major in our degree→career mapping, with wages and employment from processed BLS career profiles in this repo.
Across these BLS occupations, employment-weighted mean pay is about $150,703. Figures are national OEWS estimates for the occupation—not earnings of Public/Applied History graduates alone.
Related occupations (BLS OEWS)
| Occupation | Mean annual wage | U.S. employment |
|---|---|---|
| Lawyers | $261,078 | 747,750 |
| Public Safety Telecommunicators | $81,733 | 101,140 |
| History Teachers, Postsecondary | $134,221 | 19,860 |
| Elementary School Teachers | $95,682 | 1,393,310 |
| Judicial Law Clerks | $74,357 | 13,220 |
| Public Relations Managers | $182,777 | 76,060 |
Open each occupation for full career profile charts and industry breakdowns on EDsmart Data.
Program outcomes (College Scorecard)
National medians across bachelor's programs in the History CIP family (95 programs reporting debt). Not specific to every Public/Applied History graduate.
- $30,706 median federal loan debt among completers
- $50,680 median earnings four years after enrollment (national program median)
- 0.98 debt-to-earnings ratio (Scorecard proxy)
- 6.8% of graduates not working and not enrolled one year out (program cohort)
Source: College Scorecard program-level outcomes aggregated by 4-digit CIP family.
Employment
Wages and industry mix below use BLS OEWS data for occupations linked to this major in our mapping—not a graduate earnings survey.
Yearly Income for Common Jobs
$150,703 Average Wage in Workforce
The average salary for Public/Applied History majors is $150,703.
Average annual salaries of the most common occupations for Public/Applied History majors.
Occupations by Share
2,351,340 2023 Workforce
The number of Public/Applied History graduates in the workforce has been growing.
Various jobs filled by those with a major in Public/Applied History by share of the total number of graduates.
Diversity
Demographic information for those who earn a degree in Public/Applied History in the United States.
Workforce Age
N/A Average Age in 2023
This chart shows distribution of ages for employees with a degree in Public/Applied History.
Age distribution for Public/Applied History degree holders in the workforce.
Gender Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
57 Total Degrees Awarded
18 Male (31.58%)
39 Female (68.42%)
Gender distribution of Public/Applied History degree recipients.
Race and Ethnicity Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
44 White (77.19%)
7 Hispanic or Latino (12.28%)
3 Black or African American (5.26%)
1 Asian (1.75%)
Racial and ethnic distribution of Public/Applied History degree recipients.
Degrees Awarded
The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in Public/Applied History are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Associates Degree.
Distribution of degree types awarded in Public/Applied History.
Skills
Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the Public/Applied History field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Required Skills
Public/Applied History majors need many skills, but most especially Critical Thinking, Active Listening, and Reading Comprehension.
Rating of how necessary various skills are for Public/Applied History majors.
Skills Bar Chart
This bar chart shows the same information as the radar chart, displaying the importance of each skill.
Skill importance ratings for Public/Applied History majors.
About
A program that focuses on the application of history and administrative skills to the recording of public events and the management of related historical resources. Includes instruction in historical research methods, the planning and administration of public history projects, and applications to specific problems in public organizations, government agencies, foundations, and other facilities
In 2023, 100,000 degrees were awarded across all undergraduate and graduate programs in Public/Applied History.
CIP Code
54.0105 - Public/Applied History
What the data shows
At the program-family level, College Scorecard reports median debt of $30,706 for bachelor's completers and median earnings near $50,680, a debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.98. Those figures describe national program cohorts in this CIP family—not every individual Public/Applied History graduate.
Women earned 82.4% of 743 Public/Applied History completions in the IPEDS file used here.
Mapped BLS occupations show employment-weighted mean pay of about $150,703. The largest mapped role by headcount is Lawyers (747,750 U.S. jobs in OEWS).
Published tuition medians in College Scorecard land at $9,642 in-state at public colleges and $40,490 at private institutions for programs in this field.
Data Sources
This page uses data from the following sources:
- College Scorecard - U.S. Department of Education
- Institutional characteristics, costs, completion rates, and earnings data
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: collegescorecard.ed.gov
- Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)
- Employment and wage data by occupation
- Latest data: May 2024
- Source: bls.gov/oes
- O*NET Online - U.S. Department of Labor
- Occupational skills, knowledge, abilities, and work activities
- Database version: 28.0 (August 2023)
- Source: onetcenter.org
- IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) - National Center for Education Statistics
- Institutional data, completions, enrollment, and financial aid
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: nces.ed.gov/ipeds
- Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS)
- Demographic and workforce data
- Latest data: 2023 ACS 5-Year Estimates
- Source: census.gov/acs
Data Processing: All data has been processed, cleaned, and aggregated for presentation. Where specific data points are unavailable, estimates are based on available data and clearly marked.
Last Updated: Data reflects the most recent available information as of January 2025.
Methodology
Data for this profile is sourced from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard dataset, IPEDS completion data, and Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data.
All financial figures are adjusted for inflation and represent the most recent available data. Employment and wage data are from the most recent Census Bureau ACS PUMS estimates.