Colgate vs. Wesleyan vs. Trinity College (with merit aid)

This analysis offers a comparison of these schools based on faculty publishing in economics:

https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.uslacecon.html

For the study of history, Colgate and Trinity may be your son’s stronger options. I’d say either would be excellent for this field, actually.

Regarding value, Colgate appears in this Forbes article on colleges worth their price:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/nataliesportelli/2017/04/26/10-expensive-colleges-worth-every-penny-2017/