This guide is a free, international resource for prospective students, public history faculty, and anyone interested in the shape of public history education today.
It offers basic information, in a standardized format, about the growing number of public history programs for graduate and undergraduate students. It is meant to be a starting point for comparing programs.
In addition, NCPH intends this resource to be useful for museums and other public history institutions, government agencies, pre-collegiate schools, businesses, and community groups wanting to identify potential partners in their geographical area. Information collected for the guide also will enable NCPH to provide more regular statistics about the profession.
Recognizing that each program has its own goals, resources, and needs, the NCPH’s best practices documents highlight some of the core elements to which every program can aspire. Please note that colleges and universities define their public history offerings in different ways and there is no single standard for what constitutes at “public history program.” Editors of this guide simply include institutions that offer elements of a program. Over time, as resources, staffing, and institutional priorities change, an institution’s program’s strengths may change.
Updated by our New Professional and Student Committee in 2025, The Graduate Student Handbook: Choosing and Thriving in a Public History Program is a consumer’s guide to public history programs, designed to help students prepare for, select, and succeed in a graduate public history program.
Submission Information
If you would like to create an entry for your program, please complete the online form here. (It takes about 10-15 mins. to complete the online form. We recommend that you first consult some of the existing entries so that you know what information is expected about your program.)