History at Colorado College

Colorado College's history degree comes with an estimated $25,946 in debt—modest by national standards but meaningful when paired with first-year earnings. Based on comparable Colorado history programs, graduates typically earn around $36,909 in their first year, which actually exceeds the national median for history majors by nearly $6,000. The debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.70 suggests graduates could realistically pay down their loans within a few years if they're disciplined, though this hinges on actually securing work that uses the degree.

What's less encouraging is the competitive landscape. Several Colorado public universities—including Metropolitan State and both CU Denver campuses—report higher actual earnings for their history graduates, with Metro State breaking $42,000. Given Colorado College's 20% admission rate and sky-high SAT scores, you'd expect its outcomes to significantly outpace less selective state schools. That these peer programs perform as well or better raises questions about whether the selective private school premium translates into career advantages for humanities majors.

The reasonable debt load makes this manageable rather than disastrous, but if your student is drawn to history for practical career reasons rather than pure passion, they should know they're likely facing a slower financial start than classmates in other majors—and potentially no better than they'd see at a Colorado public institution at a fraction of the cost.