Which Ohio history program has the lowest debt?

Wright State reports the lowest median federal debt, $19,276, with first-year pay of $27,157.

How much do history graduates earn in Ohio?

The median across 12 Ohio history bachelor's programs is $29,480 in the first year after graduating and $44,024 five years after.

How many history bachelor's programs are in Ohio?

12 Ohio programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 12 of them also report federal debt.

History (Bachelor's) Programs in Ohio, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

12 programs report first-year pay
12 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in History

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Ohio history bachelor's program pays its graduates $29,480 in their first year, $2,231 less than the national median. University of Akron reports the highest first-year pay ($32,577), and Wright State the lowest median debt ($19,276).

Median first-year pay$29,480National $31,710

Median pay after 5 years$44,024National $50,314

Median federal debt$26,000National $23,973

Debt-to-earnings84%National 73%

All 12 programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	University of AkronAkron · public	$32,577	$37,660	$23,100	71%
2	University of CincinnatiCincinnati · public	$31,217	Not reported	$23,756	76%
3	Miami UniversityOxford · public	$31,194	$39,501	$26,000	83%
4	Baldwin Wallace UniversityBerea · private nonprofit	$31,163	Not reported	$27,000	87%
5	Bowling Green StateBowling Green · public	$30,226	$44,589	$26,000	86%
6	Cleveland StateCleveland · public	$29,535	Not reported	$25,000	85%
7	Franciscan University of SteubenvilleSteubenville · private nonprofit	$29,424	Not reported	$24,000	82%
8	Kent StateKent · public	$28,476	$44,024	$27,000	95%
9	College of WoosterWooster · private nonprofit	$28,013	$48,091	$26,720	95%
10	Wright StateDayton · public	$27,157	$34,062	$19,276	71%
11	Ohio StateColumbus · public	$26,663	$47,823	$21,500	81%
12	Ohio UniversityAthens · public	$24,075	$41,060	$26,000	108%

7 more programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every Ohio history program

Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Ohio medians.

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 12 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Lowest median debt

Wright State$19,276
Ohio State$21,500
University of Akron$23,100
University of Cincinnati$23,756
Franciscan University of Steubenville$24,000

Lowest debt for the pay

University of Akron71%
Wright State71%
University of Cincinnati76%
Ohio State81%
Franciscan University of Steubenville82%

"Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay. Only programs that report both figures are included.

Careers this field leads to

These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to history, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education

$78,800

Median pay in Ohio. 49,540 people work in this job in Ohio. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 63,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $48,370Top 10%: $103,150

Natural Sciences Managers

$137,170

Median pay in Ohio. 1,560 people work in this job in Ohio. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 8% from 2025 to 2035, with about 9,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $78,720Top 10%: $217,760

Tour and Travel Guides

$32,800

Median pay in Ohio. 1,000 people work in this job in Ohio. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 11,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.

Bottom 10%: $22,400Top 10%: $47,110

Museum Technicians and Conservators

$47,570

Median pay in Ohio. 350 people work in this job in Ohio. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 1,600 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $33,280Top 10%: $80,750

Common questions

University of Akron in Akron reports the highest median first-year pay, $32,577. Its median federal debt is $23,100.

History (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked370 programs by pay and debt

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of Ohio rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the history bachelor's programs that report each figure, so the counts differ by figure. Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.

Sources

U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024