I've absolutely loved History, particularly Eastern European, for as long as I can remember. I'm getting to the age where colleges and career paths are really starting to become a real thing, rather than just ideas. Which schools would have the best programs for my situation? I'd prefer to stay in North America, but I'm open to anything at all.
If you want to pursue a career in history your question has less to do with what undergraduate programs are good as what graduate programs are good. You'll never get a job other than maybe working at the museum gift shop with just an undergrad unless you know people.
Most of the names for the best history programs in the US aren't a huge surprise either- Princeton, Yale, Harvard, Berkley, Standford and Chicago. Remember to look at the lists by discipline- the one I linked is only history. Modern American History might rate different. Or European History. In terms of price University of Michigan is probably going to be the most reasonable assuming you establish residency first.
My honest opinion? Go to a decent, accredited state school for your undergrad. Major in something practical- STEM field stuff. I always liked Geography and a discipline like Anthropology can let you blur the lines between hard science and softer humanities- and minor in history. You would not be the first, nor last college student to get three weeks into class and realize that while you might like history, you're not a phile. At the same time, despite the "follow your dreams and money will follow" horse shit a lot of colleges use to dupe naive students and parents with, a STEM degree will typically leave you better off than a humanity. But there's a lot of other factors. Just be aware of how much money you're investing into your degree compared to what reasonable statistics say your out-pay will be. There's too many history, English, and Film Study degree holders who also have over 100,000 bucks in debt cleaning tables at a coffee shop. Ignore the people telling you to ignore the price tag, in a world where the education debt bubble has passed a trillion dollars this is something you need to think about. Remember, college debt is the kind you can't traditionally dump.
Anyways, the important thing is that you bust your balls. Get the A's. Get in the top percentiles. Make it on the Dean's List (the good kind.) Get to know your professors. Probably the worst part about college is that a lot of kids come in from households that were either overly strict, or were doing the bare minimum and as soon as they hit college they either completely flounder because they don't have a clue how to do anything on their own, or otherwise just go crazy because mommy and daddy aren't basically imprisoning them anymore. History is a profession where there's only so many jobs to go around and it is usually dependent on your ability to take no prisoners.