Humanities Schools and Programs in The United States

Humanities Studies in The United States

The humanities study human culture, ideas and experience. The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the federal agency that funds the field, lists history, literature, linguistics, philosophy, archaeology, languages, comparative religion and ethics among its subjects. In the United States, "humanities" is both a group of separate majors, such as English or history, and the name of a broad or interdisciplinary programme in its own right.

SpainExchange lists 108 schools in the United States under humanities. They range from research universities and liberal arts colleges to community colleges, and they are spread across the country, with several in New York, Cambridge, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, New Haven, San Diego and Pasadena.

How humanities degrees are organised

EducationUSA explains that US undergraduate education is based on the concept of liberal arts and sciences: students take classes in a wide variety of subjects in addition to their major. The bachelor's degree is usually completed in four years of full-time study, and each institution sets the number of credits needed to graduate. This means that a student can explore several humanities subjects before choosing a major.

Some universities offer a major called Humanities. At The University of Texas at Austin, the Humanities Program lets students design their own major for the B.A. degree: a programme of forty-two credit hours built around one theme, which ends with a required honors thesis in the senior year. The University of Colorado at Boulder has an interdisciplinary Humanities major that combines courses within the programme with an outside focus of 18 credit hours in another discipline or theme.

Technical universities also teach the humanities. Worcester Polytechnic Institute has a Humanities & Arts department with its own bachelor of science, and all its undergraduates complete a Humanities & Arts requirement. The California Institute of Technology has a Division of the Humanities and Social Sciences, and Carnegie Mellon University groups these fields in its Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Community colleges are a common starting point. They offer two-year programmes leading to the Associate of Arts (AA) or Associate of Science (AS) degree, and credits can count towards a bachelor's degree. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), liberal arts and sciences, general studies and humanities was the largest field at this level in 2021-22, with 383,300 degrees, or 38 percent of all associate's degrees conferred.

After the bachelor's degree, graduate study leads to a master's degree, which EducationUSA describes as a two-year degree, or to a doctorate, a programme of five to eight years that trains research scholars and professors.

Admission, English and visa

Each college or university handles its own admissions. EducationUSA advises starting the search 12 to 18 months before the academic year of entry and states that US universities require an English language proficiency test before admission. Because humanities courses rely on reading, discussion and essay writing, a strong level of academic English matters more here than in many other fields.

International degree students normally hold an F student visa. Before applying for it, a student must be accepted by an institution certified by the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP).

Recognition

There is no national ministry that approves degrees in the United States, and the humanities have no professional licence or compulsory programme accreditation. What counts is the accreditation of the institution: EducationUSA notes that the recognition of credits and degrees by other institutions and by employers is linked to it. Students who plan to use the degree in another country should check that country's rules for recognising foreign qualifications.

Where to study humanities in the United States

The schools in the list include research universities such as Yale University, The University of Chicago, the University of Michigan, the University of Washington and the University of Pittsburgh; colleges such as Lawrence University, Hope College and Dartmouth College; and community colleges such as Broward College in Fort Lauderdale, Pasadena City College and Tacoma Community College. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Colorado School of Mines also appear, as technical universities with humanities teaching. Each school's profile on this site links to its website for the current programmes.

Careers

A humanities degree does not lead to one profession. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) publishes figures for graduates with a liberal arts degree, a group that includes humanities majors. In 2023 the largest shares worked in educational instruction and library occupations (19 percent), management (16 percent) and business and financial operations (10 percent). Their median wage was $60,000, compared with $70,000 for graduates of all fields, and 32 percent held an advanced degree. Elementary school teacher was the single most common occupation.

Frequently asked questions

Is humanities a major in the United States?

It can be. Most students major in one humanities subject, such as history or philosophy, but some universities offer a Humanities major: The University of Texas at Austin and the University of Colorado at Boulder both have interdisciplinary programmes with that name.

How long does a humanities degree take?

According to EducationUSA, a bachelor's degree is usually completed in four years of full-time study and an associate degree at a community college takes two years. A master's degree is described as a two-year degree and a doctorate as a programme of five to eight years.

Can I start at a community college?

Yes. EducationUSA describes a "2+2" route: two years at a community college followed by two years of university study to earn a bachelor's degree. Liberal arts, general studies and humanities is the most common field for associate's degrees, according to NCES.

What do humanities graduates do?

BLS data for liberal arts graduates show that education, management and business occupations employ the largest shares, and that about a third hold an advanced degree.