History

M.A. or M.S.
Online
delivery
$609 Based on current tuition rates. No additional charge for nonresident students. Does not include course materials and associated fees and expenses.†
per credit
Fall
start term

Empower yourself — as a working professional, member of your community and citizen of the world — to help address major societal challenges and enrich public discourse by earning your history master’s degree online from Oregon State University.

This cohort-based program will not only provide the knowledge and communication skills you need to engage in broad public debate, but it will also prepare you for various career paths through evidence-based analysis, critical empathy and an appreciation of the many perspectives and complexities in the world around us. You’ll benefit from historical and humanities-based perspectives that train you to contend with and address local and global issues of racial and social injustice, violence and war.

Skills you’ll gain in OSU’s online history degree program

As a student in Oregon State’s online master’s degree in history program, you’ll gain the in-demand skills you need to stand out in the job market and level up your career. You’ll learn from expert Oregon State faculty who have real-world experience in the field.

  • Historical methods
  • Research
  • Critical thinking and analysis
  • Content development
  • Data management
  • Writing and editing
  • Public speaking
  • Historical perspectives
The 30-foot, granite Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial statue in Washington, D.C. stands proudly against a blue sky

Program details

The online coursework in Oregon State’s M.A./M.S. in History program will enable you to conduct original research and contribute knowledge to the field that makes use of and acknowledges sources and scholars from the past. You’ll also learn to demonstrate the ability to recognize, articulate and analyze the diversity of human experience across political, economic, social, and cultural structures over time and space.

The online master’s degree in history program is offered by Oregon State’s College of Liberal Arts.

Degree requirements

A total of 45 quarter credits are required to graduate with your online history master’s degree. Degree requirements and curriculum information are available on Oregon State's academic catalog.

Rock panel displaying ancient petroglyphs, including handprints and stylized human and animal forms

Additional program features

You will tailor your program studies to align with your research interests and career goals by selecting one of the following options:

Community history and civic engagement
This option focuses on the history of race in the West, citizenship in the U.S., social welfare, labor history, immigration, activism and public history. It also includes a required internship featuring supervised work with historical societies, archives, museums or other public or private organizations. Learn more on the academic catalog.

Global perspectives on war, peace and empire
The coursework in this option centers on the Holocaust, the rise of anti-Semitism, the World Wars, war in history, and empires in Latin America, the Middle East, Asia and Africa. Learn more on the academic catalog.

As a student in the online history master’s program, you’ll produce a capstone project or thesis based on your original research. This project will prepare you for various kinds of careers related to public history.

The community history and civil engagement option requires a 4-credit experiential learning internship. You’ll work with your major advisor to identify local or online internship opportunities.

Oregon State makes it possible for you to apply the credits you earn in an OSU degree, certificate or microcredential program directly toward the master’s degree in history. Up to 22 graduate credits may be transferred toward a 45-credit master’s degree.

Applying credits like this, an approach known as stacking, can help you build credentials over time and advance your career. It's also a great way to test a field of study through a series of courses before committing to a full degree program. For students like Ali Lanenga, stacking can make a journey to a degree feel more manageable.

Get a jump-start on your history master’s degree while working toward your bachelor’s degree in history. Through Oregon State’s Accelerated Master’s Platform, current undergraduate students can take graduate-level courses online that will be applied to their bachelor’s degree.

The credits you earn will be transferred to the history master’s program. Students enrolled in Oregon State’s online graduate courses will pay the graduate tuition and fees rate.

Before you apply to the online history master’s degree program, explore the detailed admissions information, including any application deadlines and how to submit required documents.

You can gain highly specialized skills that are in demand by employers — and do it with less of a time and financial commitment — when you earn a certificate or microcredential online from Oregon State. Choose from a large collection of short-form offerings that can help you upskill quickly.

Careers with a history degree

The knowledge you acquire in Oregon State’s online history master’s degree program will help you fill in-demand jobs in the global marketplace. You’ll graduate ready to showcase your abilities in industries that need history experts and well-rounded professionals who can think for themselves and adapt to new demands.

Job market outlook

Use the interactive tool on this page to discover employment trends, top occupations and salary details for professionals who have skills related to history. Please be aware that completing a program related to the job market information shown here does not guarantee employment or a specific salary.