Career Opportunities

In today's jargon, history is not a "professional" degree; that is, the undergraduate program in history makes no promise about a specific job for which you will be "trained." All we pledge is a first class education to give you the skills to which private and public sector leaders say they award priority in hiring: finding information, thinking clearly, and writing with grace and style. The education to become a practicing historian is gained at the graduate level, and the department will work hard to place you at a research university if that is your goal. Some aim for the Ph.D., while others enter master's degree programs in applied areas where they learn to be government analysts, librarians, archivists, and museum specialists. For those wishing to teach in public schools, Coastal offers a program with a double major in history and education, which certifies you to teach at the secondary level. Prospective law school students have always found a major in history to be excellent preparation. Just recently, Coastal graduated a fine history major, whose work included a year in China, who also completed all the courses for medical school and is now studying to become a doctor.