History Degrees in Oklahoma

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For most of the twentieth century the destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood district in 1921 was simply not in Oklahoma’s history books. The state legislature authorized a commission to investigate it in 1997, and the report landed in February 2001. Physical excavation at Oaklawn Cemetery started in 2021, and by the fifth dig more than 190 graves had been documented. Whatever else that is, it is a demonstration that the historical record is something people assemble, and that it can be left unassembled for seventy-five years. Studying history in Oklahoma means studying somewhere that is still doing the assembling.

Oklahoma has 18 colleges and universities offering history degrees, with 35 programs among them: 24 bachelor’s degrees, 9 master’s degrees, and 2 doctorates.

Three separate Oklahoma universities offer a master’s in museum studies, which is unusual for a state this size.

Oklahoma at a Glance

Schools offering history	18
History programs	35
Bachelor’s / master’s / doctoral	24 / 9 / 2
Online programs	3
Schools offering all three levels	2
Lowest in-state tuition and fees	$7,095 per year
Largest history catalog	University of Oklahoma, 7 programs

Program counts come from our directory. Tuition figures are annual in-state tuition and fees from the U.S. Department of Education, and exclude room and board.

Top History Schools in Oklahoma

We scored all 18 Oklahoma 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%). Oklahoma leads on depth at 7 programs, with Central Oklahoma at 5. On outcomes, Oklahoma completes 75% of students in four years and Tulsa 72%. Reputation rests on the two R1 universities. Affordability barely separates the public schools, which all sit between $8,469 and $10,234, but it removes Tulsa from contention at $50,061. Here are Oklahoma’s best history degrees.

1 University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus

Oklahoma has the deepest catalog in the state and two distinctive degrees inside it: a B.A. in History of Science, Technology, and Medicine, a field only a handful of universities in the country name at undergraduate level, and an M.A. in Museum Studies. Art history runs at both bachelor’s and master’s level alongside them, topped by the state’s larger history doctorate. At $9,797 it is also on our affordability list.

History programs: 7
Levels offered: Bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral
Carnegie classification: R1, very high research activity
In-state tuition and fees: $9,797

2 Oklahoma State University-Main Campus

Oklahoma State runs the state’s only public history master’s alongside a general history M.A., a bachelor’s, and a doctorate. Four programs at $10,234 with a 68% four-year completion rate. For applied graduate work in Oklahoma it is the only route.

History programs: 4
Levels offered: Bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral
Carnegie classification: R1, very high research activity
In-state tuition and fees: $10,234

3 University of Central Oklahoma

Central Oklahoma is the museum studies school and the only one in the state teaching the field at both levels: a B.A. in History with Museum Studies feeding an M.A. in Museum Studies. It also offers a bachelor’s in history of art and visual culture. Five programs at $8,818, the second-cheapest school in this ranking.

History programs: 5
Levels offered: Bachelor’s, master’s
Carnegie classification: Master’s university, larger programs
In-state tuition and fees: $8,818

4 University of Tulsa

Tulsa is the only private university in this ranking and completes 72% of its students in four years. It runs a Master’s in Museum Studies alongside a history master’s and bachelor’s degrees in history and art history. At $50,061 it charges roughly five times what the public universities on either side of it do.

History programs: 4
Levels offered: Bachelor’s, master’s
Carnegie classification: R2, high research activity
In-state tuition and fees: $50,061

5 Southwestern Oklahoma State University

Southwestern reaches this list on a single history bachelor’s, which is available online, at $8,469. It is here on institutional strength instead of departmental range, and a student wanting choice within the subject should look at the four schools above it.

History programs: 1
Levels offered: Bachelor’s
Carnegie classification: Master’s university, larger programs
In-state tuition and fees: $8,469

Four of these five schools are public, and none of those four charges more than $10,234 in state.

Most Affordable History Degrees in Oklahoma

Most affordable history degrees in Oklahoma
Rank	School	Program	Tuition per year
1	Cameron University	B.A. in History	$7,095
2	Southeastern Oklahoma State University	Bachelor's in History	$7,530
3	Rogers State University	Bachelor's in History	$7,750
4	Northeastern State University	B.A. in History	$7,810
5	East Central University	Bachelor's in History	$8,032
6	Oklahoma Panhandle State University	B.A. in History	$8,092
7	Southwestern Oklahoma State University	B.A. in History	$8,469
8	University of Central Oklahoma	B.A. in History	$8,818
9	University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma	Bachelor's in History	$9,000
10	University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus	B.A. in History of Science, Technology, and Medicine	$9,797

Annual in-state tuition and fees. All ten are public. The most expensive of them, at $9,797, is the University of Oklahoma, which also tops our ranking.

History Education in Oklahoma

Oklahoma is inexpensive and almost entirely public at the level most students will use. All ten of the most affordable schools are public and none charges above $9,797, and the University of Oklahoma sits on that list while also topping our ranking, which is a combination few states manage. Eleven public institutions carry 25 of the state’s 35 programs against seven private colleges carrying 10, and only Tulsa reaches the ranking.

Museum studies is the state’s real specialty. Four programs across three universities, and unusually it runs at both levels. The University of Central Oklahoma teaches it as a bachelor’s track and a master’s degree, so a student can enter the field as an undergraduate and finish a graduate degree in it at the same institution. The University of Oklahoma and the University of Tulsa each add a master’s. Three separate universities offering a museum studies master’s is a lot of provision for 35 total programs.

The other distinctive degree is at the University of Oklahoma: a B.A. in History of Science, Technology, and Medicine. Very few universities name that field at undergraduate level, and it puts Oklahoma alongside Wisconsin, Georgia Tech, Oregon State, Pittsburgh, and Tennessee in a small national group.

Applied history is thinner. Oklahoma State’s public history master’s is the state’s only program in the field, so a student choosing between museum work and public history has considerably more options in the first than the second.

Distance study is limited to 3 online programs, all at bachelor’s level. Our guide to online history degrees covers the wider field.

Transfer is well protected and easy to check in advance. An A.A. or A.S. from any Oklahoma public institution guarantees that 37 hours of lower-division general education requirements are satisfied at any other public institution in the state. Better still, the State Regents publish a Course Equivalency Matrix, and courses listed on it are guaranteed to transfer as equivalent, so individual courses can be verified before you enroll rather than after you have paid for them. Details are with the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education.

Becoming a History Teacher in Oklahoma

Oklahoma tests subject knowledge through the OSATs, part of the Certification Examinations for Oklahoma Educators, a system the legislature required in 1995 and which is administered by the Office of Educational Quality and Accountability.

The name of the relevant exam tells you most of what you need to know: U.S. History, Oklahoma History, Government, and Economics. Oklahoma history is written into the title of the test, not buried in a competency list, so state-specific content is a graded requirement, not an assumption.

The format is worth planning for as well. Most OSAT tests run 80 selected-response questions plus a single constructed-response question, over four hours. As in Tennessee, that written component means content revision alone will not carry you.

Confirm current requirements with the Oklahoma State Department of Education before choosing a program.

History Careers in Oklahoma

History Careers in Oklahoma
Occupation	Oklahoma jobs	Oklahoma median	vs. U.S. median
Secondary school teachers	15,480	$48,710	-32%
Postsecondary history teachers	180	$66,910	-20%
Curators	150	$60,560	-5%
Archivists	80	$51,940	-20%
Historians	50	$50,980	-34%

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

This is the hardest careers table on the site and it deserves to be stated plainly. Oklahoma pays secondary school teachers a median of $48,710, which is 32% below the national figure and a larger shortfall than any other state in the country. Mississippi and South Dakota are next at 29% below. Across 15,480 positions, that is not a marginal effect on a few people; it is the state’s main history-adjacent employment market.

Historians fare no better at 34% below national, and postsecondary history teaching and archival work both sit 20% under.

Curators are the exception, at 5% below national, which is close to the rate and the only single-digit figure in the table. That aligns with the state’s museum studies provision: Oklahoma trains for museum work and pays museum work comparatively well by its own standards.

The fair summary for a prospective student is that Oklahoma is a cheap place to earn the degree, with public tuition from $7,095, and a difficult place to be paid for it unless you go into collections. Anyone weighing the teaching route in particular should look at these figures carefully, and at what neighboring states pay, before committing.

History Resources in Oklahoma

Oklahoma Historical Society Research Center, formally the John and Eleanor Kirkpatrick Research Center, on the ground floor of the Oklahoma History Center in Oklahoma City. Access to the research facilities is free. Because Oklahoma was Indian Territory before statehood, tribal enrollment records are central to research here, and the Society holds the Dawes Final Rolls among its collections.
Oklahoma History Center, the museum that houses the research center, so exhibits and archives sit in the same building and a research trip covers both.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where Can You Study History in Oklahoma?

Oklahoma has 35 history programs at 18 colleges and universities. The University of Oklahoma has the largest catalog at 7 programs, with Central Oklahoma at 5 and Oklahoma State and Tulsa at 4 each. Only Oklahoma and Oklahoma State teach the subject at all three levels.

Which Oklahoma University Has the Best History Program?

The University of Oklahoma ranks first, with seven programs including a B.A. in History of Science, Technology, and Medicine and an M.A. in Museum Studies, at $9,797 in state. Oklahoma State is second and holds the state’s only public history master’s.

Is Oklahoma Good for Museum Studies?

Yes, and it is the state’s clearest strength. Three universities offer a museum studies master’s, and the University of Central Oklahoma teaches the field at both bachelor’s and master’s level, so you can enter it as an undergraduate and finish a graduate degree at the same school. Curators are also the best-paid occupation in the state relative to national, at 5% below.

What Is the Cheapest History Degree in Oklahoma?

Cameron University at $7,095 a year. All ten of the most affordable schools in Oklahoma are public and the entire list tops out at $9,797, which is the University of Oklahoma itself.

How Do You Become a History Teacher in Oklahoma?

You take the relevant OSAT subject examination, which for this field is titled U.S. History, Oklahoma History, Government, and Economics, so state-specific content is explicitly tested. Most OSATs run 80 multiple-choice questions plus one written constructed-response question over four hours. Before committing, look closely at pay: Oklahoma’s secondary teacher median of $48,710 is 32% below the national figure. Requirements are published by the Oklahoma State Department of Education.