Join History Terps!
The Department of History at the University of Maryland offers an innovative humanities education combined with practical career skills that last a lifetime.
94%
of History Majors in full-time employment/continuing education within 6 months of graduating
Careers for History Majors
Recent Career Placements
- Software Engineer, Booz Allen Hamilton
- Social Studies Teacher, Frederick County MD Public Schools
- Assistant de Langue, French Embassy Teaching Assistants Program
- Software Developer, Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine
- Teacher, Howard County, MD Public Schools
- Teacher, Montgomery County, MD Public Schools
- Liason Officer, Pencilmation
- Archives Intern, Smithsonian Institution Archives
- Research Fellow, Stanford University, CA
- Technical Recruiter, TEKsystems, Inc.
- Intern, US Department of Transportation, Office of Public Affairs
- Broadcast Assistant, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
Skills Learned in the History Major
- Analytical Thinking
- Expanded Global Knowledge
- How to be a Productive Citizen
- Research Methods and Practices
- Understanding of International Cultures
- Writing
My time in the History Department at the University of Maryland was incredibly formative; it was at UMD I learned how to research, how to write, and how to understand the past in order to prepare for the future. I would not be the same person without my experiences there, and it has shaped my life for the better.
Donald B. Caltrider, Jr. Class of 2011
Competitive Salaries for History Majors
According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) Winter 2021 Salary Survey, History Majors earn among the highest starting salaries compared to graduates majoring in Math, Science, and other majors in the Humanities.
History Major Basics
Requirements for the History Major (BA) are 39 hours of history course work distributed as follows:
- 12 hours in 100-200 level introductory courses (including HIST 208)
- 21 hours of the 39 total hours must be at the junior-senior (300-400) level
- 15 hours in one major field of specialization
- 9 hours in at least two major fields other than the field of specialization
- Capstone Seminar: HIST 408
- No more than 6 credits (2 courses) can be fulfilled by AP or IB credit
- Students must also meet distribution requirements (see below)
- All courses for the major must be completed with a minimum grade of C-
History majors can petition to include up to two courses taught outside the Department of History toward the fulfillment of the Major, with the approval of the Undergraduate Committee. Courses taught outside of the Department may fulfill geographic and/or thematic requirements. They may not be used to fulfill the Department capstone seminars.
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