Online Masters in History

History professors and graduate students greatly benefit from earning an online masters degree in history from a good college, and federal, state and municipal governments depend on historians to research and analyze documents of all kinds. Museums constantly need people with research skills to work with archival documents and artifacts, and corporations recruit people with advanced liberal arts degrees from top schools who can add knowledge and context to business decisions. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts an 11% increase in the number of jobs for historians by 2018.

Online Master’s Degrees in History Requirements

Students seeking to enroll in online masters degree programs in history at an accredited online school should have already earned a bachelor’s degree. It is also advisable to have taken the GRE (Graduate Records Exam). Having met those requirements, online graduate students in history must be well organized and conduct independent research. They will be required to present results of their research in well-written papers. Online masters degree in history students earn their degree with such skills, and online graduate history courses allow candidates to refine the research and writing abilities they developed as undergraduates. An online history masters degree candidate at a top school will also write and defend strong theses.
Candidates for online history masters degrees may come various fields, including teaching, government and politics and the arts.

Online History Master’s Degree Education

Candidates for online masters degrees in history can expect to spend at least two years completing their studies. Thirty-six hours of course work is required, six of which can be satisfied by the completion of a masters thesis. Online candidates can choose from among several types of degrees, including:

• Master of Science in History (MS in History)
• Master of Arts in History (MA in History)
• Master of Arts in Military History
• Master of Arts in Biblical and Theological History

Those seeking an online PhD in history will need to follow a longer and more intensive program.

Information on History Courses

To some extent, the courses taken by students in online masters degree programs will be determined by their fields of inquiry. Most candidates would be wise to pursue certain core courses such as a course dealing with methodologies of historical research. Examples of other courses students pursuing a history masters degree online at a good college include:

• Modern World History
• U.S. History Investigation and Analysis
• American Military History
• History of American Women
• History of Visual Arts

A course on American Military History includes a study of tactics and strategies used by U.S. military forces, and such a course could be a study of one or more aspects of military culture.

Specializations and Concentrations

The areas of study candidates in history masters programs online at accredited institutions can choose from are as varied as is the study of history itself, with degrees available within such broad fields of study as:

• World history
• Ancient and classical history
• Renaissance and reformation
• Military history
• American history
• Art history
• History of religion
• American revolution
• History of religion
• Research methodologies
• Archives and digital preservation

Careers in History

An online masters history degree from any of the best online schools opens up a multitude of career doors, especially if it is from one of the best online colleges. Among the fields in which successful candidates can look forward to working are the following:

• Secondary or post-secondary education
• Historical site or museum administrator
• Writer/Editor for history publications documentary films or television programs
• Records manager or archivist
• Work in legislation or the law
• Historian for a corporation or business
• Archivist

An archivist, often a holder of an online masters degree in history, assesses, collects, organizes, preserves and maintains access to documents and other historical artifacts. Salaries for archivists range from a low end of about $30,000 to as much as $50,000. Positions for archivists are not as common as in many other professions, but with the explosion of information recent years, there is a growing need for individuals with research and organizing skills (like historians) to manage the information explosion produced by information technology.

Career and employment are not the only reasons to pursue an online masters in history. A history degree allows students to enhance their understanding of the forces that continue to shape today’s world. At the same time, successful candidates will find many desirable career doors opened as a result of their studies. Online history degree programs make it possible for students to complete their online masters history requirements no matter where they live or their current employment and family status.