Are there to many Ph.d programs in History?

[bigtime]

With the amount of phds earned in history, and the somewhat bleak job market, do you think there are just to many schools offering phd programs?

[bigtime]

Well, I guess since nobody else wants to chime in, I will answer my own question.  According to the AHA website there are around 160 schools in the United States alone that offers the phd in history.  I think that is to many, and some states have to many schools that offer.  Even though I doubt it would ever happen, but I think it should be some type of governing body that sets certain guidelines for a history department in order for them to offer the phd.  Just like many graduate programs I think many people enter programs with a false sense of that they will have a job waiting for them when they graduate, and as of late that hasn't been the case for most.  People please feel free to chime in on this and give your thoughts.

[New England Nat]

I think you'll find a lot of us have rehashed this in other threads and don't want to go round and round again.

[bigtime]

Oh, okay, thanks for the reply.  I'm pretty new to this site and didn't know that.  I'll check old topics though.  

[New England Nat]

It usually comes up in other discussions.  Don't worry too much.  The site gets an almost new population each application cycle with a few grad student hang overs to giver advice.  This is the slow time of year here because the next cycle hasn't started yet.

[bigtime]

Thanks for the feedback, I truly appreciate that.

[New England Nat]

For the record, I think you are right at least in that there are too many programs producing PhDs.  I don't advise people to apply to any program ranked below 40/50th because I believe they will have an unreasonable handicap on the market.  Every time I say that thought I manage to offend someone.  But it's also an easy thing for me to say from where I sit.

 

What kind of program are you in?

[hdunlop]

bigtime, there was some good discussion of what Nat just mentioned in the US News ranking thread you might find interesting (I did).

[bigtime]

I'm actually in a program that falls outside of the top 50, I'm not offended at all, it's a fairly small program.  I majored in American history, more specifically African American history.  I think my program placement rate is pretty decent when it comes to tenure track positions, but I could be wrong.  Over the years I have been in the program, I have met people who finish their PhD before me arriving. I know pretty much about everybody who have got their Ph.D. from my dept in the past 9 years or so, which is about 60 people and about 25 of them have tenure track positions.  About 10 of them work in public history, and about 5 of them are full time lecturers.  A few of the remaining ones have jobs in the government, and some serve as adjuncts or freelance writers.  About 10 and I'm not sure exactly what they are doing now.  

[bigtime]

hdunlop, thanks I'll check it out.