History at Bridgewater College

Bridgewater College's history program shows solid middle-of-the-pack performance for Virginia, landing at the 60th percentile among the state's 40 programs. That $32,771 first-year salary beats both the national and state medians, though it falls well short of what elite Virginia programs like Hampden-Sydney ($42,949) and VMI ($42,543) deliver. The real story here is the trajectory: earnings jump 43% to $46,821 by year four, suggesting graduates eventually find their professional footing even if they start modestly.

The $27,000 debt load sits at just the 5th percentile nationally—meaning 95% of history programs leave students with more debt. Combined with that first-year salary, you're looking at a manageable 0.82 debt-to-earnings ratio. A graduate could theoretically pay off their loans with about 10 months of gross income, which is reasonable territory for a liberal arts degree.

The catch is sample size: with fewer than 30 graduates in the data, one or two outliers could skew these numbers significantly. If your child is seriously considering this program, dig into where recent graduates actually landed jobs and whether the 91% admission rate signals accessibility or a less selective peer environment than they'd thrive in. For a family seeking affordable liberal arts education without crushing debt, this works—just don't expect the earning power of Virginia's top-tier programs.