Departments

• As of fall 2023, approximately 1,259 departments were awarding degrees in history at colleges and universities in the United States. These departments included large, freestanding departments in the discipline, programs in a department awarding degrees in multiple disciplines (in which case the department chair was asked to report information only for history), and departments focused on a subspecialty in the discipline (e.g., history of science).
• Of the 1,259 departments awarding degrees in history, 453 (36%) were awarding graduate degrees in the discipline, with 187 (15%) awarding PhDs.

Faculty

• History departments employed 17,870 full- and part-time faculty members in fall 2023, with an average of 14 faculty members per department (and a median of 10). On average, departments at research universities had 25 faculty members, compared to 9 at master’s colleges and 8 at primarily undergraduate institutions. History departments at historically Black colleges and universities had an average of 7 faculty members.
• Approximately 67% of history faculty members either had tenure or were on the tenure track.
• Faculty members employed full-time with tenure or on the tenure track taught an average of 50 undergraduate students in fall 2023, while full-time faculty employed off the tenure track taught an average of 139 undergraduates. Both were among the highest averages among the disciplines in the survey. Faculty employed part-time taught an average of 53 undergraduate students in that fall term.
• While 33% of history departments had made at least one new hire for the 2023–24 academic year, amounting to 660 new permanent faculty, the departments collectively had lost an average of 1,110 faculty per annum over the previous two years. Among the faculty who left, 65% had retired.
• An estimated 12% of history department chairs thought the number of tenure-line faculty in their departments had increased from fall 2020 to fall 2023 (one of the smallest shares among the disciplines in the survey), while 45% estimated that their tenure-line faculty count had decreased during that period (one of the largest shares among the surveyed disciplines, second only to English). In addition, 25% of chairs in the discipline thought the number of nontenure-track faculty had increased over the same period, while 17% reported the number decreased.
• Looking ahead, 12% of history department chairs expected the number of tenure track faculty in their departments to increase over the next three academic years, while 35% thought the number would shrink. (The remainder thought the most likely outcome would be no change or were not sure.) In contrast, 25% thought their nontenure-track faculty count would increase, while 25% thought the number would shrink.
• About 38% of the departments had a faculty member come up for tenure during the previous two years. Averaging over these two years, 320 were granted tenure per annum nationwide, and none were denied tenure or left prior to a tenure decision.
• Because it is not appropriate for a person to assign a demographic identity to another person, the survey did not ask department chairs to report their faculty members’ races or genders. However, the survey did ask chairs to describe themselves. Women constituted 35% of the chairs in history departments (the second smallest share in the survey) in fall 2023, and 85% identified their race/ethnicity as white.

Undergraduate Students

• In fall 2023, departments that awarded degrees in history had undergraduate course enrollments of 1,087,940, with an average enrollment of 864 per department. (These are duplicated enrollment figures, with students taking multiple courses in the discipline counted in every course.) The average is skewed upward by large programs, typically at research universities, which had significantly larger-than-average enrollments, as indicated by a median enrollments of only 420.
• Approximately 54% of history department chairs thought undergraduate enrollments had held steady or increased from fall 2020 to fall 2023.
• On average, history departments awarded 24 bachelor’s degrees per department in the 2022–23 academic year (with a median of 12 per department). These departments had an average of 63 juniors or seniors with a declared major in the subject (and a median of 30).
• In the 2022–23 academic year, history departments awarded an average of 21 minors in the subject (with a median of 8 per department) for a total of approximately 15,580 awards in the discipline. History departments also awarded an average of 16 certificates or other microcredentials per department (with a median of 4). While 15% of departments reported awarding microcredentials, a much larger share, 59%, awarded minors.

Graduate Students

• Degree-granting departments in history had 23,110 enrollments in graduate courses in fall 2023, with an average of 51 (and a median of 45) enrollments per department that had a graduate program.
• Approximately 15,070 students were working toward graduate degrees in history. The average number of students pursuing advanced degrees in history was 33 (with a median of 15) per department that granted such degrees.
• The 187 departments awarding PhDs admitted an average of 5.3 new doctoral students into their programs in fall 2023, for a total of 990 new doctoral students in the discipline.

Departmental Practices and Concerns

• Approximately 34% of department chairs were optimistic about the future of history at their institution, while 38% were pessimistic, the largest share among the disciplines in the survey. (The remainder were either unsure or neither optimistic nor pessimistic.)
• The survey found that 25% of the chairs in history were concerned about the academic freedom of faculty members in their department. Among those departments, the most common concern was threats to such freedom academic administrations (cited by 66% of chairs). The second most common concern was about threats coming from students and federal or state governments (each cited by 45% of departments).
• While 87% of history departments provided research support for their full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty members, and 71% offered such support for full-time nontenured faculty, only 26% offered such support for part-time faculty.
• Asked what their departments had done in recent years to attract additional majors, 70% of history department chairs reported offering events, classes, or other activities designed to aid students in thinking about future jobs or careers. The second most common recruitment strategy was outreach to students who were in other majors or undeclared (reported by 66% of department chairs).
• An estimated 74% supported the career development of their undergraduates by offering (and for a small share of departments, by requiring) occupationally oriented lectures, while 87% offered internships, and 60% offered occupationally oriented coursework or workshops.
• In departments awarding doctorates in the discipline, 72% offered occupationally oriented lectures for their doctoral students; 76% offered internships; and 72% offered occupationally oriented coursework or workshops.