History at Carleton College

Carleton's highly selective liberal arts environment—with its 22% admission rate and 1491 average SAT—sets expectations that students will leverage their degree beyond first-year salaries. However, the available data tells an incomplete story. Based on the median of just three History programs reporting earnings in Minnesota, graduates from comparable programs earn around $39,000 in their first year, carrying roughly $26,000 in debt. That 0.66 debt-to-earnings ratio is manageable, but it's worth noting this exceeds the national median earnings for History majors by about $8,000.

The challenge with Carleton's specific outcomes is that we're working with state averages that include very different institutions. Minnesota State-Mankato reports the same $39,186 figure, while University of Minnesota-Duluth graduates earn slightly more at $42,297. What's striking is that UMN-Twin Cities History graduates report substantially lower first-year earnings at $26,635—suggesting that initial salary data for humanities majors can vary wildly even within a state, likely reflecting different career paths, geographic choices, or graduate school plans.

For a family considering Carleton's price tag, the key question isn't whether $39,000 is a good starting salary for a History major—it's reasonably above the national benchmark—but whether Carleton's distinctive advantages (small classes, strong alumni network, graduate school placement) justify the investment when the actual earnings trajectory for this specific program remains unclear. The debt level appears manageable, but you're buying into Carleton's broader value proposition rather than documented outcomes for History graduates specifically.