spezza

My advice would be to look up as many job postings for your ideal positions as possible and see what they require. Personally, I do not think a PhD is necessary for the vast majority of careers in Public History and I'd be wary of spending several additional years in academia when you could be acquiring work experience. Edit: Also, make sure to discuss this with people working in the field and not just Professors.

You'd be adding $125,000 in debt for a Masters? I think you should evaluate if your future career earnings would even make that worth while.

Edit: Delete