We are making available, to members and nonmembers alike, Robert B. Townsend’s article for the April issue of Perspectives on History, which analyzes Department of Education research and finds that the number of history bachelor’s degrees awarded has declined for the first time in a decade.

Although the decline is small in terms of percentages, the fact that the undergraduate population as a whole is growing means that history’s share of the graduate population is declining significantly, accelerating a four-year trend that has adverse implications for the job market and history departments.

The entirety of the April issue will be available to nonmembers on May 1.

Taking this article out from behind the paywall is a bittersweet event, as the AHA staff is faced with the imminent departure of its author, Deputy Director Robert Townsend, who is leaving the AHA to take a position with the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. It’s possible that selecting this article for wider release on this particular day represents the AHA staff progressing in its grief from denial to bargaining, but we hope readers of Rob’s articles in Perspectives will join us in congratulating him on his new position.

This post first appeared on AHA Today.