History Degrees in Michigan

The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 drew the Ohio-Michigan border using maps that were wrong, and by 1835 both sides were claiming a 468-square-mile strip of land around Toledo. The Toledo War that followed involved a great deal of legislation, a great deal of newspaper shouting, and almost no actual fighting. In December 1836 Michigan gave up the strip in exchange for statehood and about 9,000 square miles of the Upper Peninsula. Ohio thought it had won. The Upper Peninsula turned out to be full of copper, iron ore, and timber, and paid for a good deal of Michigan’s next century. A good deal of it went into public universities, and those are still where the subject is taught here.

Michigan has 29 colleges and universities offering history degrees, with 64 programs among them: 45 bachelor’s degrees, 12 master’s degrees, and 7 doctorates.

Every school in our ranking below is public, and every one teaches history from the bachelor’s through to a doctorate.

Top History Schools in Michigan

We scored all 29 Michigan 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%). Wayne State takes depth at 7 programs, with Michigan State and Central Michigan at 6. Outcomes belong to Michigan Ann Arbor at 93% and Michigan State at 81% completing in four years. Reputation rests on three R1 universities. Affordability barely moves the needle, because all five schools sit between $14,760 and $17,736. Here are Michigan’s best history degrees.

Most Affordable History Degrees in Michigan

Most affordable history degrees in Michigan

Rank	School	Program	Tuition per year
1	Saginaw Valley State University	Bachelor's in History	$12,930
2	Northern Michigan University	B.S. in History	$14,277
3	University of Michigan-Flint	Bachelor's in History	$14,704
4	Central Michigan University	Bachelor's in History	$14,760
5	Ferris State University	Bachelor's in History	$14,778
6	Lake Superior State University	Bachelor's in History	$14,890
7	Grand Valley State University	B.A. or B.S. in History	$15,140
8	Wayne State University	B.A. in History	$15,190
9	Western Michigan University	Bachelor's in Public History	$15,252
10	Oakland University	B.A. in History	$15,262

Annual in-state tuition and fees. There is no private institution on this list and nothing outside the $12,930 to $15,262 band. Three of these ten also appear in our ranking above.

History Education in Michigan

In Michigan the best history departments and the cheapest ones are largely the same schools. The five ranked schools charge between $14,760 and $17,736; the ten most affordable charge between $12,930 and $15,262. Those ranges overlap, no private institution appears on either list, and three universities sit on both. There is no premium tier to price yourself out of here.

That flatness comes from how the field is distributed. Fourteen public universities carry 43 of the state’s 63 programs, against fifteen private colleges carrying 20, and the publics hold every doctorate. Five schools teach history at all three levels, and all five appear in our ranking.

Public history is Michigan’s distinctive strength, and it starts early. Wayne State, Central Michigan, and Western Michigan all offer public history as a bachelor’s degree, not a graduate concentration. In much of the country the field begins at the master’s, so a student who already knows they want museums, archives, or historic sites can start that work several years earlier here. Wayne State takes it furthest, running public history at both the bachelor’s and master’s level.

Museum studies runs at both levels too. Michigan State offers an M.A. in Museum Studies, and Michigan Ann Arbor offers a Bachelor’s in Art History and Museum Studies. Art history is generally strong here: 14 of the state’s 63 programs carry an art history designation, about 22%, one of the highest proportions in the country.

Wayne State’s doctoral structure is worth a second look if research is your aim. Instead of one history Ph.D., it awards a Ph.D. in American History and a Ph.D. in European History as separate degrees, so the field commitment is made at the point of application rather than after coursework.

Transfer runs through the Michigan Transfer Agreement. Complete 30 credits of core general education at any Michigan community college with at least a 2.0 in each course, and those credits move as a block, without individual course evaluation, to most Michigan baccalaureate institutions. The useful detail is that the MTA can be completed as a stand-alone package rather than only as part of an associate degree, which protects students who transfer before finishing. Check that your receiving school participates, since the agreement covers most institutions, not all of them. Details are at MiTransfer.

Online provision is the weak spot at just 3 programs, one bachelor’s and two master’s. Our guide to online history degrees covers the wider field.

Becoming a History Teacher in Michigan

Michigan uses group endorsements, which makes its credential broader than most. The relevant one is Social Studies (RX), and according to the Department of Education a teacher holding it is qualified to teach social studies and the sub-areas of history, geography, economics, political science, and civics and government, without holding separate endorsements in any of them.

For a history graduate that cuts both ways. One endorsement makes you employable across an entire department, which matters in smaller districts where a single teacher covers the whole social studies offering. It also means the preparation reaches well beyond history, so the economics and political science coursework needs planning instead of hoping electives cover it.

You will need to pass the relevant Michigan Test for Teacher Certification subject test before the endorsement is added to your certificate, and Michigan offers two routes, not one:

• MTTC 084, Social Studies (Secondary), the test behind the RX group endorsement. Passing score 220, 100 multiple-choice questions.
• MTTC 009, History, behind a History (CC) endorsement of its own. Passing score 220, also 100 multiple-choice questions.

That second option is worth knowing about, because most states have no equivalent. A history major can certify in history on a history exam, rather than sitting a broad social studies test covering economics and political science. The trade-off is the one described above: the RX group endorsement makes you employable across a whole department, and CC does not.

Central Michigan builds the route into a degree with a B.S. in Education covering teaching social studies for grades 5-12, which is aimed directly at this endorsement.

Michigan has been revising which endorsements require additional testing beyond the subject test, so confirm the current set with the Michigan Department of Education before choosing a program instead of relying on a guide, including this one.

History Careers in Michigan

History Careers in Michigan

Occupation	Michigan jobs	Michigan median	vs. U.S. median
Secondary school teachers	25,540	$66,030	-8%
Postsecondary history teachers	370	$99,440	+19%
Curators	360	$63,190	-0.4%
Archivists	160	$63,890	-1%
Historians	80	$62,920	-18%

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

Michigan has the most evenly balanced collections market in the country. Curators sit 0.4% below the national median and archivists 1% below, which is close enough to call level. Most states are clearly above national or clearly below; Michigan is neither, across 360 curator and 160 archivist positions.

The outliers run in opposite directions. Postsecondary history teachers earn $99,440, 19% above the national median, but there are only 370 such positions in the state, so the premium sits on a very small base. Historians earn 18% below national across 80 jobs, which is the weakest figure in the table.

Secondary school teaching, at 8% below national across 25,540 positions, is where the volume is, as it is everywhere. Set against in-state tuition clustered between $12,930 and $17,736, the Michigan calculation is a moderately priced degree feeding a market that pays close to national for collections work and below it for classroom work.

History Resources in Michigan

• Michigan History Museum and the Archives of Michigan, Lansing. Both sit inside the Michigan Library and Historical Center on West Kalamazoo Street, so a single trip covers the museum galleries and the state’s public records, which include probate files, naturalization records, tax rolls, circuit court files, and prison registries. The archives charge no admission, and the museum is free to everyone on Sundays. It is closed on Mondays, so check the schedule before visiting.
• Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Home to the Michigan Historical Collections and the university’s own archives, and one of the largest collections of material on the state’s history anywhere. It is open free to the public and welcomes researchers regardless of academic or professional affiliation, which is not true of every university special collection.

Frequently Asked Questions