Affordable online history programs are less about finding the lowest advertised rate and more about lowering your total cost to complete the degree. Three levers move that number: the per-credit price you pay, how many credits you pay it on, and which fees are added afterward. History is fortunate on one count – there is no lab fee, no studio kit, no clinical placement cost – and exposed on another, because the major leaves a lot of general education credits that you may be paying full price for unnecessarily.
Quick Answers
What actually lowers the cost of a history degree?
The largest levers are in-state or flat online tuition rates, transferring in prior college credit, and credit by examination such as CLEP or DSST for general education and the introductory surveys. Reducing the number of credits you take at full price has more effect than chasing a single low advertised rate.
Do online programs charge in-state tuition to out-of-state students?
Many public universities charge a flat online rate regardless of state residency, but not all do. Some still apply out-of-state rates to online students living elsewhere. Confirm the specific policy with each school before enrolling, and ask whether the flat rate applies at the graduate level too.
Can transfer credits reduce total cost?
Yes, and this is the biggest single lever at the bachelor’s level. General education, composition, and the United States and world history surveys transfer readily between accredited institutions. Upper-division seminars and the capstone usually do not, because they are the courses the degree-granting school wants to own.
What fees should I expect on top of tuition?
Technology and online-platform fees are the common ones, sometimes billed per term and sometimes per course. Proctoring charges appear if the program uses proctored exams. Graduate programs may add a thesis filing fee. Public history tracks can add travel to a practicum site. Ask each school for an itemized fee schedule at your degree level.
Are books and materials expensive in history?
They can be, because history is a book-heavy field and seminars often assign several monographs a term. Some of that cost is avoidable through library access, used copies, and open-access primary-source collections. Ask whether the school provides digital access to the assigned scholarly literature, which is a real cost difference between programs.
At a Glance
- Compare: In-state or flat online tuition rates across schools
- Check: Transfer credit and credit-by-examination policies for surveys and general education
- Ask about: Technology fees, proctoring charges, and any practicum travel
- Reduce: Total credits taken at full price, which is the largest lever at the bachelor’s level
- Calculate: Per-credit rate multiplied by total required credits, plus fees – not the rate alone
For a full overview of program options, start with the History Program Guide.
Schools to compare
How We Rank Schools
Every school list on this site is ordered by the BOC Score, computed from the most
recent school-level data published by the U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and IPEDS).
To qualify, a school must be currently operating and accredited by an agency recognized by the
U.S. Department of Education. Each eligible school is then scored on five measures, percentile-ranked
against schools at the same credential level:
BOCSCORE
- Graduation rate 30%
- Median earnings, 10 years after entry 25%
- Average net price (lower is better) 20%
- Retention rate 15%
- Fully online availability 10%
Schools without enough outcome data appear after ranked schools, without a score.
Advertising never affects these rankings. Read the full methodology.
Graduation rate
93%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$102,772
Avg net price
$12,116/yr
TuitionContact school for pricing
Key stats
- Retention rate: 98%
- Programs offered: 64
Source:IPEDS · College Scorecard
Graduation rate
97%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$124,080
Avg net price
$13,807/yr
TuitionContact school for pricing
Key stats
- Retention rate: 98%
- Programs offered: 100
Source:IPEDS · College Scorecard
Acceptance rate
11%
Graduation rate
93%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$92,446
Avg net price
$13,481/yr
TuitionIn‑state$16,347
Out‑of‑state$50,547
Key stats
- Retention rate: 97%
- Programs offered: 127
Source:Accreditor: Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior Colleges and University Commission · IPEDS · College Scorecard
Graduation rate
98%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$110,066
Avg net price
$6,128/yr
TuitionContact school for pricing
Key stats
- Retention rate: 98%
- Programs offered: 47
Source:IPEDS · College Scorecard
Acceptance rate
7%
Graduation rate
95%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$82,735
Avg net price
$14,398/yr
TuitionIn‑state$67,832
Out‑of‑state$67,832
Key stats
- Retention rate: 97%
- Programs offered: 40
Source:Accreditor: New England Commission on Higher Education · IPEDS · College Scorecard
Graduation rate
96%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$88,665
Avg net price
$17,716/yr
TuitionContact school for pricing
Key stats
- Retention rate: 97%
- Programs offered: 38
Source:IPEDS · College Scorecard
TuitionContact school for pricing
Key stats
- Retention rate: 97%
- Programs offered: 28
Source:IPEDS · College Scorecard
Graduation rate
96%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$143,372
Avg net price
$20,111/yr
TuitionContact school for pricing
Key stats
- Retention rate: 99%
- Programs offered: 53
Source:IPEDS · College Scorecard
Ways to lower the cost of an online history degree
In-state or flat online tuition rates
Many public universities set a single online rate for all students regardless of home state, which can be substantially lower than an out-of-state campus rate. Some schools still distinguish between in-state and out-of-state online tuition, so confirm the specific policy before applying. If you live near a state line, check whether regional tuition reciprocity agreements apply to online enrollment.
Transfer credit and credit by examination
Bringing in credit from a prior degree, community college coursework, or standardized examinations reduces the number of courses you complete at full price. This lever is largest at the bachelor’s level, where general education plus the survey sequence can account for a substantial share of the roughly 120 credits. Ask each school:
- What is the maximum number of transfer credits accepted
- What minimum grade is required for a course to transfer
- Whether survey credit satisfies major requirements or only counts as general elective hours
- Whether credit by examination is accepted for United States and world history surveys
- What the residency requirement is, meaning the minimum credits you must complete at the institution
Prior-learning assessment exists at some schools for documented professional experience. It is more relevant if you have worked in records management, museums, or a historical organization than if your experience is general. Ask what it evaluates and what the assessment itself costs.
Per-credit versus flat-rate billing
Schools bill in two ways, and the difference matters more than a small gap in the advertised rate. Strict per-credit billing charges you for exactly what you take. Flat-rate or block billing charges a fixed amount for a term regardless of load within a band, which rewards taking a heavier course load. If you can carry more courses per term, a flat-rate school can be substantially cheaper overall. If you can only take one course at a time, per-credit billing usually wins.
Fees beyond tuition
Two programs with the same per-credit rate can bill very differently once fees are added. Ask each school for an itemized schedule covering:
- Technology and online-platform fees, charged per term or per course
- Proctoring charges for online examinations, if any
- Graduate thesis filing or binding fees
- Practicum or internship travel for public history tracks
- Graduation and transcript fees
Compare total cost, not the advertised rate
The comparison that matters is per-credit rate multiplied by total required credits, plus fees across the whole program. A master’s with more required credits can cost more overall than one with a higher advertised rate and fewer credits. Ask each school to confirm total required credits in writing alongside the rate, and to state whether the thesis carries additional credit hours.
Pacing and time enrolled
Finishing coursework faster through an accelerated format does not usually reduce the per-credit rate, but it can reduce total cost by shortening how long you are enrolled and how many term-based fees you pay. Weigh that against what compression does to the research seminar, which is the part of the degree that produces the writing sample you will actually show people.
Ask each school two questions in writing: what is the total number of credits required for this degree, and which fees are charged on top of tuition each term. A program with a lower rate, more required credits, and per-term fees can cost more than a shorter program with a higher advertised rate.
What history does not cost
It helps to know which expensive line items this field does not have. There is no laboratory fee, no studio or materials kit, no clinical placement cost, no licensing examination fee for the degree itself, and no required professional software. Compared with a design, nursing, or engineering program, the cost of a history degree is close to pure tuition plus fees.
That has a practical consequence. Because the variable costs are small, the schools’ advertised rates and their credit requirements explain almost the entire difference in what you will pay. There is little room for a program to be quietly expensive in ways the rate does not show, apart from term-based fees and, in public history tracks, practicum travel. Comparing total credits and per-credit rate across three or four accredited programs will usually get you within a small margin of the real answer.
Cost factors to compare
- Tuition per credit and total credits required for the degree
- Whether the school bills strictly per credit or at a flat per-term rate
- Technology, proctoring, and platform fees
- Transfer credit and credit-by-examination policies at the bachelor’s level
- Whether the graduate thesis adds credit hours or terms compared with an examination route
- Whether a public history practicum requires travel
- Access to digital scholarly collections, which affects what you spend on books
Degree level and cost
At the bachelor’s level, the lever with the most room is transfer credit, because roughly 120 credits gives you surface area to reduce and the survey sequence is among the easiest credit to bring in. At the master’s level, the comparison shifts toward total required credits, whether the thesis adds hours, and fees, since transfer credit into a graduate program is usually capped at a small number of hours. See Online Bachelor’s in History and Online Master’s in History for what each level involves.
Weigh cost against a specific use of the degree. A master’s is the working credential for archives, museums, and community college teaching, and those occupations pay less than the historian median. Archivists earn a median of $64,550 a year. Curators earn $63,420 and museum technicians and conservators $51,440 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS). That is not an argument against the degree. It is an argument for knowing the number before you choose a program by prestige. See Is an Online History Degree Worth It.
Compare related pages
Data verified: September 5, 2026.
Salary, employment, and tuition figures on this page are sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS May 2025; Employment Projections 2024–2034) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (2023 cohort). The source agency and data year are cited inline with every statistic.
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