History Degrees in Vermont

The law that built the American public university was written by a Vermonter. Justin Morrill introduced the bill that became the Land-Grant College Act, signed on July 2, 1862, granting each state 30,000 acres of public land for every senator and representative it sent to Congress. Selling that land was supposed to endow at least one college teaching agriculture and the mechanic arts, though the text was careful to say it was not excluding other scientific and classical studies. A second act in 1890 forced the former Confederate states either to admit Black students to those colleges or to found separate ones, which is where several historically Black land-grant universities come from. Vermont exported that idea and kept relatively little of it: the state has two public colleges teaching history today.

Vermont has 6 colleges and universities offering history degrees, with 15 programs among them: 11 bachelor’s degrees and 4 master’s degrees.

There is no history doctorate anywhere in Vermont, and no school teaches the subject at all three levels.

Top History Schools in Vermont

With six history departments in the whole state, this is a top three. Our scoring uses the same four factors as every state we cover: history degree offerings and program variety (40%), student outcomes (25%), reputation (20%), and affordability (15%). UVM takes first on depth and on price, since at $19,058 it is less than half what any school below it charges. Reputation does not do much work here, because no university in this ranking holds R1 classification. Here are Vermont’s best history degrees.

Most Affordable History Degrees in Vermont

Most affordable history degrees in Vermont

Rank	School	Program	Tuition per year
1	Vermont State University	B.A. in History	$11,952
2	University of Vermont	B.A. in History	$19,058
3	Norwich University	Bachelor's in History	$49,740
4	Saint Michael's College	Bachelor's in History	$51,450
5	Bennington College	Bachelor's in History	$66,262
6	Middlebury College	Bachelor's in History	$67,600

Annual in-state tuition and fees. Six entries, which is the entire field: Vermont has six schools teaching the subject and they are all here. Only two of them are public, and four charge more than $49,000.

History Education in Vermont

Vermont is a small, expensive, undergraduate-weighted state with one genuinely surprising feature in it.

Start with the cost, because it shapes everything else. The cheapest history degree in Vermont is $11,952 at Vermont State University, and only five states in the country have a higher entry point. The University of Vermont at $19,058 is the only other public option. After that the list jumps to $49,740 and keeps climbing to $67,600. There is no inexpensive middle here, and unlike most states the public sector does not supply one, because the public sector is two schools.

Then the ceiling. Not one Vermont department awards a doctorate, and not one covers all three levels. Four other states are in that position, and three of them are much smaller offerings. No university in the ranking holds R1 classification either, so students wanting a major research environment are looking out of state for that as well as for doctoral study.

The surprise is where the graduate work actually is. Norwich University, a private military college, runs three master’s degrees to the flagship’s one: history, military history, and public history. That means the state’s applied training, both the public history route into museums and archives and the military history specialty, sits at a private institution charging $49,740 rather than at UVM. Norwich also runs both of Vermont’s online programs. For a student weighing graduate options in Vermont, the choice is not between a cheap public route and an expensive private one; on the graduate side there is largely one route.

The undergraduate offering has more character than the count suggests. UVM splits its history B.A. into three named regional degrees, African/Asian/Middle Eastern/Global, American, and European, so the field is chosen at entry. Middlebury’s Bachelor’s in History of Art and Architecture is a distinctive title, and Middlebury completes 91% of students in four years. Between them, UVM, Middlebury, and Bennington account for the state’s art history provision.

Distance study is limited to 2 online programs, both at Norwich. Our guide to online history degrees covers the wider field.

Transfer runs on the Vermont Transfer Guarantee, and its design is worth understanding because it does something most states do not. A student who completes an associate degree at the Community College of Vermont is guaranteed admission to a participating four-year institution, subject to a minimum GPA that is 2.0, 2.5, or 3.0 depending on which one you pick. The participating list is five institutions: Vermont State University, Norwich University, Saint Michael’s College, Champlain College, and Champlain College Online.

Three of those five are private colleges. Most state transfer guarantees bind only public institutions, so a Vermont student can use the community college route into a private college that would otherwise be well out of reach on price alone. Note that the guarantee attaches to the completed associate degree, so leaving CCV partway through forfeits it. Terms are published by the New England Board of Higher Education.

Becoming a History Teacher in Vermont

Vermont licenses educators through the Agency of Education, with standards set by the Vermont Standards Board for Professional Educators. The endorsement a history graduate wants is Social Studies, endorsement code 15.

Vermont’s licensing rules are worth understanding structurally, because they explain why you will not find a cut score published anywhere official. The rules deliberately do not name test codes or passing marks. Rule 5242 requires an applicant to meet the passing scores established by the Standards Board on the applicable Praxis II examination or other examination the Board requires. The numbers live in Board policy, which is revised more often than the rules are, so any figure printed on a directory site is a snapshot, not a requirement.

The basic skills rule is more generous than most states, and it is set out plainly. Rule 5241 requires the Praxis Core series in reading, writing, and mathematics, or other examinations or measures determined by the Standards Board, and Vermont accepts several ways through:

• Equivalent scores on a Board-approved alternate assessment.
• Passing scores on an assessment already approved in another U.S. state, which matters if you are moving to Vermont with a credential.
• Coursework with a grade of B or better, demonstrating the same competence without a test.

A teacher who already holds a Vermont license and is adding an endorsement is exempt from Praxis Core but still takes the qualifying subject test.

Because the score lives in Board policy rather than in rule, get the current figure from the Vermont Agency of Education or the Standards Board directly, and treat any number you find elsewhere as needing confirmation.

History Careers in Vermont

History Careers in Vermont

Occupation	Vermont jobs	Vermont median	vs. U.S. median
Secondary school teachers	2,450	$76,220	+6%
Postsecondary history teachers	80	$83,750	-0.1%
Curators	60	$56,520	-11%
Archivists	not published	not published	n/a
Historians	not published	not published	n/a

Employment and wage data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, 2025. Vermont’s archivist and historian figures were withheld entirely, which is usual in a state this small.

Three rows are published and the news in them is better than the tuition would suggest.

The classroom is the whole employment story here: 2,450 posts at a median $76,220, running 6% ahead of the national figure. That is where essentially all the classroom employment in the state sits, and paying above the national rate for it is a real point in Vermont’s favor.

Postsecondary history teaching comes in at $83,750, which is within a tenth of a percent of the national median. Only 80 positions, so it is a small market, but it pays the going rate rather than a rural discount. That is worth knowing in a state with no doctoral program generating local competition for those jobs.

Curators are the weak row at $56,520, 11% below national on 60 positions. Museum work in Vermont is neither plentiful nor well paid relative to the country, which sits awkwardly beside the fact that the state’s public history master’s is a $49,740 private-college degree.

The archivist and historian rows were suppressed, so on those two occupations Vermont is simply unmeasured. Treat it as unknown rather than as bad.

History Resources in Vermont

• Vermont Historical Society runs two sites, and the split matters if you are planning research, not a visit. The Vermont History Museum is at 109 State Street in Montpelier, open Tuesday to Saturday, 10 to 4. The collections and the Leahy Library are somewhere else entirely: the Vermont History Center, 60 Washington Street in Barre, open Tuesday to Friday and second Saturdays, 9 to 4. Go to Barre for the manuscripts.
• Vermont State Archives and Records Administration, 1078 Route 2, Middlesex. The state’s government records, held by the Secretary of State’s office. Confirm the reference room hours by phone before traveling, because the archives website blocks automated checks and we could not verify current hours at source.

Frequently Asked Questions