History Degrees in West Virginia

The Constitution says no new state can be carved out of an existing one without that state’s consent. Virginia had just voted to leave the Union, so it was not about to consent to anything. Delegates met at Wheeling in June 1861, declared the secession ordinance void, and proclaimed themselves the Restored Government of Virginia, and that body supplied the consent for its own division. The Senate then attached a condition: the new state had to write gradual emancipation into its constitution. Lincoln signed the bill on the last day of 1862, and West Virginia became a state on June 20, 1863. Whether it exists at all depends on who you accept as Virginia’s legislature. That is a question about documents. The state those documents argued into existence still teaches the subject, though it stops sooner than most.

West Virginia has 11 colleges and universities offering history degrees, with 24 programs among them: 19 bachelor’s degrees and 5 master’s degrees.

There are no history doctorates in the state, and no school teaches the subject at all three levels.

Top History Schools in West Virginia

Eleven West Virginia schools offer history. One of them, American Public University System, is a private for-profit institution, and we do not rank for-profit colleges anywhere on this site, so the ranking below is drawn from the other ten and we publish 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%). West Virginia University leads on every factor except price. Below it the field thins fast, because Marshall is the only other school in the state with a history master’s. Here are West Virginia’s best history degrees.

Most Affordable History Degrees in West Virginia

Most affordable history degrees in West Virginia

Rank	School	Program	Tuition per year
1	American Public University System	B.A. in Military History	$8,400
2	Fairmont State University	Bachelor's in History	$8,708
3	Shepherd University	Bachelor's in History	$9,056
4	Marshall University	B.A. in History	$9,162
5	West Virginia State University	B.A. in History	$9,570
6	West Virginia University	B.A. in History	$10,104
7	Concord University	B.A. in History	$10,664
8	Davis & Elkins College	B.A. in History	$31,820
9	University of Charleston	B.A. in History and Political Science	$33,800

Annual in-state tuition and fees. Nine entries instead of a top ten, because this is nearly every school in the state. American Public University System heads the list on price but does not appear in our ranking above, because it is a for-profit institution and we do not rank those. If you want a campus, Fairmont State at $8,708 is the cheapest starting point.

History Education in West Virginia

The defining fact about studying history in West Virginia is where the ladder stops. The state has no history doctorate at any institution, and no school teaches the subject at all three levels. Four other states are in the same position, but all of them are much smaller offerings: Alaska has 2 history programs, Wyoming 3, South Dakota 9, and Vermont 15. At 23 programs, West Virginia is the largest history offering in the country with no doctoral option anywhere in it. A master’s is the ceiling, and anyone continuing past it will be applying out of state.

That makes the two master’s departments worth knowing well. WVU runs an M.A. in Public History and a regional M.A. in which students commit to Africa, Europe, Latin America, or the United States, alongside a B.A. in Art History and Museum Professions. Marshall runs a general history master’s. Between them they cover the applied and the academic route as far as West Virginia takes either.

Price is compressed on campus and then falls off a cliff. The eight cheapest schools sit between $8,400 and $10,664, a spread of about $2,300 across the entire public sector plus one for-profit, so cost is genuinely not the deciding factor among them. Then the two private nonprofit colleges arrive at $31,820 and $33,800, roughly three times the top of the public range with nothing in between.

One curiosity in the state’s catalog is worth recording. West Virginia has two degrees titled military history, a bachelor’s and a master’s, and only 22 programs in our entire national directory carry that designation. Both are at American Public University System, which is a for-profit online institution and therefore not in our ranking, but the degrees exist and are unusual enough to note for anyone specifically looking for that field.

Online study needs a caveat, not a headline. Eight of the state’s 23 programs are online, a 35% share that is among the highest in the country, but seven of those eight are at a single fully online for-profit university. West Virginia does not have a broad distance-learning system across its public campuses; it has one online institution headquartered in the state, plus one online master’s at Marshall. Our guide to online history degrees covers the wider field.

Transfer runs on the Core Coursework Transfer Agreement, authorized by state code, and it has one provision history students should read before enrolling anywhere. A student may move up to 35 credit hours into a West Virginia public institution as general studies credit, and no associate degree is required to use it. But within the social science block, no more than three hours count from any single area, and history is one of those areas. Loading up on community-college history surveys will not buy more general studies credit; only three hours of it lands in that block, and the rest transfers as elective or major credit instead. That is not a reason to avoid the courses, only a reason to know what they will do. The West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission publishes the agreement and a course equivalency tool for checking individual courses in advance.

Becoming a History Teacher in West Virginia

West Virginia does not certify history on its own. The credential is Social Studies, endorsement code 3000, and it covers an unusually wide span: grade 5 through adult education on a single certificate. Most states split middle school from high school. West Virginia issues one document for both, so a history major is preparing to teach across a broader range than the same degree would qualify them for elsewhere.

The content test is the Praxis Social Studies exam, code 5581, with a required score of 153. That version became available on October 1, 2025, so anyone working from older guidance should check the code. On the pedagogy side the requirement is Principles of Learning and Teaching, code 5624 for grades 7 through 12, scored at 157, or code 5623 for grades 5 through 9 at 160. A narrower Social Studies (5-9) endorsement, code 3030, exists for candidates aiming only at middle school.

One provision is worth planning around, because it can save you two exams. West Virginia’s testing directory lists a second, higher threshold beside every content test. Score 166 on the social studies exam, which is two standard errors of measurement above the passing mark of 153, and you are exempt from the pre-professional basic skills assessments entirely. For a history major who knows the material well, aiming at the higher number is a better use of preparation time than treating 153 as the target. The alternative route to the same exemption is a B or better in three courses covering reading, writing, and mathematics, each at least three credit hours.

Confirm current requirements with the West Virginia Department of Education before choosing a program.

History Careers in West Virginia

History Careers in West Virginia

Occupation	West Virginia jobs	West Virginia median	vs. U.S. median
Secondary school teachers	3,590	$56,610	-21%
Postsecondary history teachers	90	$69,560	-17%
Curators	not published	not published	n/a
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. West Virginia’s curator, archivist, and historian figures were withheld entirely, both counts and wages, which the Bureau does where the sample is too small to publish safely.

Three of the five rows here are suppressed, which is more than most states, and it limits what can honestly be said. The two published figures both sit below national.

Secondary school teaching carries the volume at 3,590 positions and pays $56,610, about 21% under the national median. That is where nearly all of the history-adjacent employment in the state is, and it is the number most readers of this page will actually be weighing.

Postsecondary history teaching pays $69,560 across 90 positions, 17% below national. Ninety college teaching jobs is a modest number, and it fits a state whose history departments stop at the master’s degree: there are fewer graduate programs generating the kind of teaching load that larger states carry.

What cannot be said is anything about museum and archive pay, because the Bureau published none of it. If that is your intended field, treat West Virginia as unmeasured rather than as good or bad, and ask institutions directly.

History Resources in West Virginia

• West Virginia Independence Hall, 1528 Market Street, Wheeling. Built in 1859 and 1860 as a federal custom house, post office, and courthouse, this is the building where the Wheeling Conventions met and the Restored Government of Virginia was created, which is the story at the top of this page. It now holds 14 original Civil War battle flags, the restored courtroom, and the original post office. Open Tuesday to Saturday, 9 to 5, admission free.
• West Virginia Archives and History, at the Culture Center, 1900 Kanawha Boulevard East, Charleston. The state archives and a non-lending research library, open Tuesday to Saturday, 9 to 5. Two practical notes for anyone planning research: the section does not take research requests by email, and written requests carry a fee of $10 in state or $20 out of state. The West Virginia State Museum is in the same building, open Monday to Saturday and free.

Frequently Asked Questions