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Major · Area, Ethnic & Gender Studies

Read America as a civilization, not just a country

American Studies / American Civilization treats the US as an interdisciplinary object of study — its history, literature, politics, and cultures from pre-Columbian times to the present. The major produces roughly 721 degrees annually across 185 colleges, with bachelor's completers reporting a five-year median around $58,500.

Schools offering
185
Annual completions
721
Typical degree level
Associate's + Bachelor's
Median earnings (5yr)
$59k

About this major

American Studies — sometimes offered under titles like American Civilization or US Studies — treats the United States as an interdisciplinary object of study, covering its history, literature, politics, economics, and culture from pre-Columbian and colonial periods through the present. The curriculum pulls coursework from multiple departments and asks students to work across them: a typical sequence might include American history surveys, American literature seminars, a methods course in cultural analysis, and topical upper-division work on immigration, race, labor, gender, regionalism, or material culture. Most programs culminate in a senior thesis that uses primary sources — archival documents, films, literature, oral histories — to make an original argument.

The major fits students who read broadly across history and literature, who enjoy finding connections across disciplines rather than staying within one, and who can handle a research project that requires choosing a question and sustaining it for a year. It rewards patience with ambiguity, strong writing, and a taste for reading cultural objects as seriously as political documents. Students often pair it with a second major or a minor in a complementary field — history, political science, economics, or a foreign language.

About 721 degrees are awarded annually across 185 colleges, making this a mid-sized humanities field. The bachelor's production is concentrated at research universities and selective liberal arts colleges — UC Berkeley leads with 55 bachelor's graduates, followed by Notre Dame (22), Barnard (21), Wesleyan (20), Cal State Long Beach (19), Georgetown (16), Cal State Fullerton (16), Yale (15), and UT Austin (14). Coastline Community College leads associate-level completions with 106, reflecting a transfer-oriented track. The only BLS occupation directly mapped to the CIP is postsecondary teacher at $84,290 median (requiring a doctorate, 2.4% growth); bachelor's completers overall report a five-year median around $58,529.

Section 3 · Careers

Where this major leads

Occupations most often associated with this major, from the federal BLS+O*NET crosswalk. Job-growth projections and median wages are national.

Occupation Median wage Job growth Typical education
Area, ethnic, and cultural studies teachers, postsecondary $84k +2.4% Doctoral or professional degree
Section 4 · Earnings

Earnings at a glance

Median graduate earnings from the federal College Scorecard, 5 and 10 years out.

Median 5-year earnings

$59k

Who this major is for

You may thrive here if you read widely across history and literature and don't want to be boxed into a single discipline, if you're drawn to reading films, music, advertising, and built environments as seriously as political documents, if you can commit to a year-long senior thesis and want the writing sample it produces, if you're considering law school or a humanities graduate program, and if you're at an institution with a real American Studies department — Berkeley, Notre Dame, Barnard, Wesleyan, Yale, and UT Austin all carry programs with identifiable faculty specializations.

Think twice if you want a recognizable disciplinary identity — history and English are larger fields that employers and graduate programs still parse more easily than American Studies, even though the skill set overlaps. Think twice if you want a clear vocational pathway: the major is a broad humanities credential, and the $58,529 five-year median reflects entry into nonprofit, media, and public-sector roles rather than anything specialized. And think twice if graduate school isn't on the table — the direct BLS-mapped career (postsecondary teacher, $84,290) requires a doctorate, and the broader job landscape rewards this major indirectly rather than by name.

Section 6 · Where to study

Top colleges for American/United States Studies/Civilization

Ranked by annual completions at the associate's or bachelor's level — a proxy for program scale.

College Location Assoc. Bach. Total
Coastline Community College Fountain Valley, CA 106 0 106
University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA 0 55 55
University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN 0 22 22
Barnard College New York, NY 0 21 21
Wesleyan University Middletown, CT 0 20 20
California State University-Long Beach Long Beach, CA 0 19 19
Georgetown University Washington, DC 0 16 16
California State University-Fullerton Fullerton, CA 0 16 16
Yale University New Haven, CT 0 15 15
The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX 0 14 14
Section 7 · Explore sideways

Related majors to explore

Area Studies, Other

451 completions/yr

Asian Studies/Civilization

433 completions/yr

East Asian Studies

220 completions/yr

Latin American Studies

130 completions/yr

Near and Middle Eastern Studies

97 completions/yr

African Studies

80 completions/yr

French Studies

52 completions/yr

Russian Studies

42 completions/yr
Section 9 · Frequently asked

Common questions

What do American Studies majors actually study?
The curriculum is interdisciplinary by construction — you'll take courses across history, literature, political science, sociology, anthropology, and popular culture, and many programs require a methods course that teaches you how to read cultural objects (films, music, advertisements, built environments) as evidence. Themes usually include immigration, race and ethnicity, gender, region, labor, and material culture, with a common capstone thesis that uses primary sources to make an argument about American life. Some programs lean more historical and literary; others lean more sociological and contemporary.
What jobs do American Studies graduates go into?
The major is a broad humanities credential — graduates move into museum and archives work, public history, K-12 teaching with certification, journalism and publishing, law school, policy roles, nonprofit administration, and corporate communications. The one BLS occupation directly mapped to the CIP — area, ethnic, and cultural studies teacher, postsecondary — requires a doctorate and pays $84,290 median, with 2.4% growth. The $58,529 five-year median for bachelor's completers reflects the mix of entry-level nonprofit, media, and public-sector roles graduates typically take.
Why does the top completer list include a community college?
Coastline Community College in California tops the list with 106 associate completions — that's an atypical signal for this field and reflects a specific transfer-oriented general-studies track. Beyond Coastline, the bachelor's leaders are selective research universities and liberal arts colleges: UC Berkeley (55), Notre Dame (22), Barnard (21), Wesleyan (20), Cal State Long Beach (19), Georgetown (16), Cal State Fullerton (16), Yale (15), and UT Austin (14). That list tells you the bachelor's version of the major is concentrated at schools with deep humanities departments.
How does American Studies compare to a History or English major?
History and English are larger, more discipline-specific majors that give you a recognizable name for graduate school or certain hiring contexts. American Studies is smaller (721 annual completions vs. tens of thousands for history or English) and explicitly interdisciplinary — you'll know multiple methods but not be formally trained in any single one the way a history major is. Pick American Studies if you want flexibility and enjoy moving across disciplines; pick history or English if you want a clearer disciplinary identity and slightly broader employer recognition.
Is this a good pre-law or pre-grad-school major?
Yes for both. The heavy emphasis on argument-building, primary-source analysis, and sustained writing maps well onto law school expectations and onto graduate humanities programs. Many programs have strong pre-law advising, and the capstone thesis gives you a writing sample. For master's programs in public history, museum studies, public policy, or American Studies itself, this major is the most direct feeder.