History Degrees in Delaware

Delaware calls itself the First State because it got there first. On December 7, 1787, delegates meeting at a tavern in Dover ratified the United States Constitution unanimously, 30 votes to nothing, ahead of every other state. For a place this small, it has an outsized claim on the founding. Its higher education picture is the opposite of outsized. Almost all of it sits at a single university.

Delaware has 2 colleges and universities offering history degrees, with 9 programs between them: 5 bachelor’s degrees, 2 master’s degrees, and 2 doctorates.

That makes it one of the most concentrated history markets in the country. The University of Delaware runs 8 of those 9 programs, and both institutions are public. Delaware has no private college offering a history degree at all.

History Schools in Delaware

With only two schools offering the subject, we list both instead of rank them. Our scoring across all four factors, history degree offerings and program variety (40%), student outcomes (25%), reputation (20%), and affordability (15%), separates them clearly, but a two-item ranking tells you less than the details do.

University of Delaware

UD is effectively the state’s history department. It offers a general bachelor’s plus three named concentrations in American, European, and world history, then a master’s and doctorate in both history and art history. Its art history doctorate runs a curatorial track with specializations in Renaissance, modern, and contemporary art, which is unusual anywhere and makes UD a serious option for museum-bound students well beyond Delaware.

• History programs: 8
• Levels offered: Bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral
• Carnegie classification: R1, very high research activity
• In-state tuition and fees: $16,810
• Four-year completion rate: 81%

Delaware State University

Delaware State offers a single degree in the subject, a B.A. in History, at $10,670 in state against the University of Delaware’s $16,810. Established by the General Assembly in 1891 under the Morrill Act as the Delaware College for Colored Students, it is one of the country’s historically Black universities, and it remains the more affordable of the state’s two routes into the subject.

• History programs: 1
• Levels offered: Bachelor’s
• Carnegie classification: Master’s university, medium programs
• In-state tuition and fees: $10,670
• Four-year completion rate: 39%

The University of Delaware is the state’s only R1 research university and holds both of Delaware’s history doctorates.

History Education in Delaware

Every history program in Delaware sits at a public institution. Both schools are public, and the private colleges in the state offer nothing in the subject. Only Alaska, Nevada, New Mexico, and Wyoming share that pattern.

That has a practical consequence. If you want to study history in Delaware and stay in Delaware, your realistic choice is between one large research university and one bachelor’s program. Graduate study in the subject means the University of Delaware or leaving the state.

Transfer from the community college system runs through Delaware Technical Community College’s Connected Degree programs, which map an associate degree onto a partner institution’s bachelor’s so students enter as juniors. The agreements guarantee admission to students who meet the receiving school’s requirements, and they are structured to prevent credit loss on the way across.

We do not currently list a fully online history program at either Delaware school, at any level. Distance learners will mostly be looking at schools in other states, and our guide to online history degrees covers the national picture.

Becoming a History Teacher in Delaware

Delaware requires two credentials, not one: a teaching license and a standard certification, both issued by the Delaware Department of Education.

The exam requirement is unusually specific. Candidates for secondary social studies must pass the Praxis Social Studies: Content Knowledge test, exam code 5081, with a qualifying score of 157. The resulting Secondary Social Studies Teacher Standard Certificate covers grades 9 through 12, and may also be used for grades 6 through 8 in a middle school in place of the separate middle-level certificate.

Before the exams, you need a bachelor’s degree that includes a state-approved educator preparation component and a student teaching placement. Applications run through the state’s DEEDS credentialing system.

Confirm current requirements with the Delaware Department of Education before choosing a program, since exam codes and passing scores are revised periodically.

History Careers in Delaware

History Careers in Delaware

Occupation	Delaware jobs	Delaware median	vs. U.S. median
Secondary school teachers	5,360	$77,960	+8%
Curators	60	$56,800	-10%
Archivists	50	$53,890	-17%

Employment and wage data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, 2025. Delaware figures for historians and postsecondary history teachers were not published, which is common in small states where the sample is too thin to report.

Delaware splits the difference on pay. Secondary school teaching runs 8% above the national median, while curators sit 10% below and archivists 17% below. Teaching is both the better-paid option and, by a wide margin, the larger one, with 5,360 positions against 60 curator and 50 archivist jobs.

Delaware’s position matters more than its size here. Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington are all within commuting distance of parts of the state, which means the practical museum and archive market for a Delaware graduate is regional rather than confined to the handful of positions inside the state line.

History Resources in Delaware

• Delaware Historical Society, founded 1864 and based in Wilmington. It operates Old Town Hall, the Delaware History Museum, and the Read House and Gardens in New Castle, making it the state’s main public history employer outside the universities.
• Delaware Public Archives, the official repository for state records, which holds Delaware’s original 1787 ratification document.

Frequently Asked Questions