History at University of the District of Columbia

This program's estimated first-year earnings of $43,809 substantially exceed the national median of $31,220 for history bachelor's degrees—a gap that likely reflects Washington DC's higher cost of living and concentration of government and policy work that values liberal arts training. The estimated $23,310 in debt translates to a manageable 0.53 debt-to-earnings ratio, well below the 1.0 threshold that typically signals repayment challenges.

What matters here is the location advantage. DC's history programs cluster in the $39,000-$50,000 range for first-year earnings, suggesting the capital's job market absorbs humanities graduates more readily than most regions. With 43% of students receiving Pell grants, UDC serves a population for whom this earning potential—based on peer DC programs—represents meaningful economic mobility, even if it doesn't match the outputs of Georgetown or American University down the road.

The caveat is real: these figures come from comparable DC programs, not UDC's specific graduates. If your child enrolls, they're betting that UDC's outcomes mirror these peer institutions rather than falling below them. But the combination of relatively modest estimated debt and DC's stronger-than-typical market for history graduates suggests reasonable odds for a humanities degree that could lead to government work, nonprofits, or graduate school without crushing debt burden.