History Degrees in Minnesota

A military commission tried 392 Dakota prisoners after the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862, some hearings lasting under five minutes, and sentenced 303 men to death. Lincoln read the transcripts and cut the list to 39. On December 26, 1862, thirty-eight Dakota men were hanged together at Mankato in front of roughly 4,000 people, still the largest mass execution in United States history. Most of the accused had no counsel, most spoke no English, and afterward it emerged that two of the men hanged were not the men convicted. The Minnesota Historical Society publishes that record in detail, which is a reasonable measure of how seriously the state takes its own history. Its universities take it seriously too, though almost entirely at undergraduate level.

Minnesota has 25 colleges and universities offering history degrees, with 40 programs among them: 34 bachelor’s degrees, 5 master’s degrees, and 1 doctorate.

That makes Minnesota the most undergraduate-weighted of any sizeable state, with 85% of its history programs at the bachelor’s level.

Top History Schools in Minnesota

We scored all 26 Minnesota schools on the four factors we use in every state: history degree offerings and program variety (40%), student outcomes (25%), reputation (20%), and affordability (15%). Twin Cities leads on depth with 5 programs against 3 at Mankato and St. Thomas. Outcomes go to Twin Cities at 85% and St. Thomas at 76% completing in four years. Reputation rests on a single R1 university, which is why the gap between first and second place here is the widest on any list we publish. Affordability is what lifts Mankato to second at $9,572. Here are Minnesota’s best history degrees.

Most Affordable History Degrees in Minnesota

Most affordable history degrees in Minnesota

Rank	School	Program	Tuition per year
1	Minnesota State University-Mankato	B.S. in History	$9,572
2	Metropolitan State University	B.A. in History	$9,840
3	Bemidji State University	B.A. in History	$10,237
4	Saint Cloud State University	B.A. in History	$10,245
5	Southwest Minnesota State University	B.A. in History	$10,361
6	Minnesota State University Moorhead	B.A. in History	$10,428
7	Winona State University	Bachelor's in History	$10,576
8	University of Minnesota-Morris	Bachelor's in History	$14,526
9	University of Minnesota-Duluth	B.A. in History	$14,610
10	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities	B.A. in History	$17,214

Annual in-state tuition and fees. All ten are public. The list divides into two tiers: seven Minnesota State campuses between $9,572 and $10,576, then three University of Minnesota campuses from $14,526 up.

History Education in Minnesota

Minnesota is the most undergraduate-weighted state of any real size for this subject. Thirty-five of its 41 history programs are bachelor’s degrees, 85% of the total, the highest share of any state with 20 or more programs. There are five master’s degrees in the whole state and our directory lists a single doctorate, at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. If your plan runs past the bachelor’s, the field of options here is genuinely narrow.

The affordability list shows the state’s two public systems clearly. Seven Minnesota State campuses cluster between $9,572 and $10,576, and then three University of Minnesota campuses start at $14,526. That is a real fork rather than a gradient: the Minnesota State universities are where the inexpensive bachelor’s degrees are, and the University of Minnesota is where the research and the graduate work sit.

Private colleges carry more programs than public ones, 16 institutions running 22 against 10 publics running 19, but they are almost entirely undergraduate. St. Thomas is the only private university in our ranking, and it holds the state’s only master’s in art history.

Art history is unusually prominent here. Ten of Minnesota’s 41 programs carry an art history designation, about 24%, which ties Maryland for the highest share of any state in the country. It shows up across the ranking: art history bachelor’s degrees at Mankato, St. Thomas, and Duluth, plus the master’s at St. Thomas.

Applied history concentrates in one place but does it thoroughly. Twin Cities runs a Bachelor’s in Public History and a Master’s in Heritage Studies and Public History, so the applied route is available from the first year through to a graduate degree at a single institution.

Transfer runs on the Minnesota Transfer Curriculum, at least 40 credits across ten goal areas. The mechanic is the useful part: a goal area completed at one Minnesota State institution counts as complete at every other one, so the protection applies goal by goal rather than only when you finish the whole curriculum. A student who transfers partway through keeps whatever they have banked. Details are at Minnesota State.

Online provision is limited to 3 programs, two bachelor’s and one master’s, with Mankato running two of the three. Our guide to online history degrees covers the wider field.

Becoming a History Teacher in Minnesota

Minnesota licenses the field as Social Studies 5-12 through the Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board, so the credential spans geography, government, and economics alongside history.

The grade range carries a requirement most states do not impose. Because the license covers grades 5 through 12, candidates must complete field placements at both levels, teaching the content in a middle school setting for grades 5 to 8 and in a high school setting for grades 9 to 12. Most states expect one placement band. Minnesota expects experience across the whole range before it licenses you, which makes the practical component longer and worth planning for early.

Confirm current requirements with the Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board before choosing a program.

History Careers in Minnesota

History Careers in Minnesota

Occupation	Minnesota jobs	Minnesota median	vs. U.S. median
Secondary school teachers	16,020	$76,460	+6%
Postsecondary history teachers	280	$92,970	+11%
Curators	220	$53,920	-15%
Archivists	90	$65,740	+2%
Historians	50	$103,040	+34%

Employment and wage data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, 2025.

Minnesota pays above the national median in four of these five occupations, and the exception is a strange one. Historians earn $103,040, 34% above national, the fourth-highest figure for that occupation in the country behind Massachusetts, Maryland, and Washington DC. Curators earn 15% below national at $53,920.

Those two roles sit side by side in most museums, and here they are separated by the gap between $103,040 and $53,920. The likely explanation is where each sits: Minnesota’s historian roles skew toward corporate, legal, and institutional research in the Twin Cities, while curator positions concentrate in museums and historical sites that pay on non-profit scales. It is a reminder that job titles in this field carry very different markets behind them.

Everything else is solidly positive. Postsecondary history teaching is 11% above national, archivists 2% above, and secondary school teaching 6% above across 16,020 positions, which remains where nearly all of the employment is.

History Resources in Minnesota

• Minnesota Historical Society, founded in 1849, the same year the Minnesota Territory was established. It is headquartered at the Minnesota History Center, which opened in 1992 on Kellogg Boulevard in downtown Saint Paul, between the Mississippi and the State Capitol.
• The U.S.-Dakota War of 1862, the Society’s dedicated project documenting the war, the trials, and the Mankato executions, including trial records and Dakota accounts. It is the standard starting point for research on the events in this page’s opening paragraph and is freely available.

Frequently Asked Questions