What You Can Do With This Degree
Undergraduate and graduate degrees in history are versatile and marketable!
History graduates often become teachers, but teaching is not the only option available to someone with a History degree. Our graduates have a high placement rate in a variety of careers. Many go on to advanced research and prestigious museum training programs.
A Bachelor’s Degree in History is useful for careers in the following areas:
- Health sciences
- Journalism
- Law
- Writing
- Administration
- Religion
- Public Service (including Politics and Philanthropic Foundations)
- State Agencies and Departments
- Historic Site management
- Teaching at the secondary level
In addition to the opportunities above, a Master’s Degree will help lead to a career in:
- Advanced research
- Government
- Museum science
- Publishing
- Teaching at the college level
Many History graduates go on to pursue a doctoral degree. While UIS does not offer the Ph.D. in History, our B.A. and M.A. graduates often apply (and are accepted into) top professional school and Ph.D. programs across the country:
These schools include:
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- DePaul University
- Dominican University
- IUPUI (Indiana University Purdue)
- Kent State University
- Loyola University Chicago
- PACE Program, Gilder-Lehrman Institute
- St. Louis University
- Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
- SUNY Binghamton
- Syracuse University
- University of Arizona
- University of Mississippi
- University of New Mexico
- University of Pennsylvania
- University of South Carolina
Recent Employers of UIS History graduates include:
- Abraham Lincoln Memorial Garden & Nature Center
- Alternative Bearings Corporation
- Ball-Chatham School District
- City of Springfield
- First Division Museum at Cantigny
- Historic Sites Commission of Springfield, IL
- Illinois State Military Museum
- Illinois State Museum
- Lincoln Legal Papers Project
- National Archives and Records Administration
- The Sawmill Museum
- The Smithsonian
- Springfield Sister-Cities Association
- University of Dallas
- University of Michigan
- U.S. Army
- Yellowstone Historic Center