Any other History majors out there?

[94W]

I am currently working on my History Degree with TESC. I have seven more tests to go. Now that my twenty year goal is getting close I find myself starting to question, what's next?
I am career military and hope to retire in 2008. I have worked Electronic maintenance the whole time. My next big decision is where to go with my second career. I tried for years to get a Electronics degree and could never get stable with one school long enough. This was before all the online schools and even today the electronics offerings are slim to none.
I decided on a history degree because it was the fastest path to a Bachelor's degree and I do enjoy history. Now my question is what to do with it. I plan on getting my Master's degree in the next three years. However, with a family to support and a upcoming retirement, I still need a viable career oppurtunity. I am leaning towards a position with the government as a historian or teaching. But I am not sure teaching will pay enough of the bills.
Any input would be greatly appreciated. I find that this board has helped guide me with the tests, hopefully it will help here.

[sgloer]

This is probably really unhelpful considering how far into your degree you are, but you can complete a business degree pretty easily through testing, and it's going to be applicable towards a lot more jobs than a history degree. Especially if you've made a career in the military, you could probably fulfill a lot of business credits through life and work experience...

Hopefully someone else will chime in on some career fields well-suited to history majors.

[RBOWMAN]

This is probably really unhelpful considering how far into your degree you are, but you can complete a business degree pretty easily through testing, and it's going to be applicable towards a lot more jobs than a history degree. Especially if you've made a career in the military, you could probably fulfill a lot of business credits through life and work experience...

Hopefully someone else will chime in on some career fields well-suited to history majors.

Steve's advice is rock solid in terms of job opportunities you will open the door to with a business degree. You may even want to consider the medical field in adminstration. Iam currently finishing up my degree and internship in becoming a hospital administrator..they don't care what your age is and now the pay and benefits are becoming quite good. also, since my wife is a director of nursing we can become a team in some small community setting.
I have enough credits in history to have it as a major, but I felt the options would be too few. Good luck in your choice.

[94W]

You are voicing some of the same doubts I have had. However, I think I will keep going with the history degree. It will probably be harder to find a job, but I think I can find a niche. Especially after I finish my Masters. My goal in life is to be comfortable financially, and happy in my work. I dont think I would be happy in Business. I do appreciate the input though.

[rjc311]

I'm planning on getting my BA in History from Excelsior. I really enjoy history and in my experiences many employers don't care what your major was as long as you have that Bachelor's degree. Of course that isn't the case for everyone though. I have no military background nor do I have a business background so I'm not sure I would want to go that route although I may still look into it since I am still early into the degree...It is such a hard decision!!!

[sirjake]

Could you guys post the history degree requirements for Excelsior? If I end up getting a second degree through Excelsior so that I can have a GPA, I would likely pursue history (good one for my skill set and not looked down upon by law schools, or so I read).

What I'm basically looking for is some better idea of how Excelsior works in regards to their requirements. I have a good grasp of TESC now, but it appears that there are some differences. I would imagine that the general requirements are similar (i.e., the lower level stuff like math, social sciences, humanities, science, electives, etc), but that the core requirements for majors are different.

Specific questions:

Which *exams* are required or fulfill requirements? I want to get this done completely with exams, if possible. I think I read that History of Nazi Germany is being discontinued soon--should I shoot for that one first?

How many classes are required in addition to exams (CLEP, DSST or ECE)?

Basically, I'm trying to figure out how to fulfill all of the requirements prior to enrolling so that if I NEED to enroll to get into law school (for the GPA requirement), I can and will be through quickly.

If you'd rather email me, my email address is my username on here at gmail.com

Thanks in advance!

[sirjake]

No takers? Please?

[snazzlefrag]

No takers? Please?

Hi Sirjake,

Here is a basic breakdown:

You will need to fulfill Excelsior's "Information Literacy", and "Written English" requirements in addition to the following...

Core Requirements:

3 credits US History (survey type of course)
6 credits World History (two semesters survey type of course)
3 credits Historical methodology/Historiology/Philosophy of History etc.
------
12 Credits

Intermediate and Upper Level Courses:
(At least one course from each category)

A. US History
B. European History
C. Non-western World History
------
18 Credits

You can get more details if you login to the Excelsior web site (register for free if you haven't already), then go to the publications page and download the "Requirements for a History Major" pdf file. All the information you need is there.

I can email the pdf file to you if you have trouble getting it from their site.

Hope this helps,
Snazzlefrag

[anar579]

Sirjake,
I sent you an e-mail.

[anar579]

Hi Sirjake,

Here is a basic breakdown:

You will need to fulfill Excelsior's "Information Literacy", and "Written English" requirements in addition to the following...

Core Requirements:

3 credits US History (survey type of course)
6 credits World History (two semesters survey type of course)
3 credits Historical methodology/Historiology/Philosophy of History etc.
------
12 Credits

Intermediate and Upper Level Courses:
(At least one course from each category)

A. US History
B. European History
C. Non-western World History
------
18 Credits

You can get more details if you login to the Excelsior web site (register for free if you haven't already), then go to the publications page and download the "Requirements for a History Major" pdf file. All the information you need is there.

I can email the pdf file to you if you have trouble getting it from their site.

Hope this helps,
Snazzlefrag

Rob, do you happen to have the School of Liberal Arts catalog??? I know Excelsior had it on their publications page a while back... I know this because they DID NOT have the Business catalog, which is what I needed. Now the situation is reversed. It would be really helpful to those folks pursuing a degree in the liberal arts who want to fulfill as many requirements as possible before actually enrolling. Unfortunately the "Guidelines for a major in XYZ" guides list requirements, but aren't specific about what exams will fulfill them.