Why get a BA/MA (4+1) in Spanish?

The combined BA/MA (4+1) program in Spanish provides highly qualified undergraduate Spanish majors with the opportunity to begin taking graduate level classes in their junior or senior year of undergraduate study, saving both time and money for those interested in pursuing a Master's degree in Spanish. This degree prepares students for either immediate entry into a Master’s level career or continued study in a PhD program. 

Getting a degree in Spanish builds valuable skills including better problem solving, decision-making, planning, and presenting and defending ideas in different modes to a wide range of audiences. Students who speak Spanish at home can also benefit from our program through increased confidence in their formal writing and speaking proficiency and a demonstrated credential verifying their expertise.

This degree helps you stand out from your competition in the job market and bilinguals have both a higher earning potential and are more desirable on the job market in whatever career they choose. Our MA students can succeed in many fields including: health care, higher education, counseling, interpreting, translation, law enforcement, government, banking, hospitality, law, travel and tourism, international and domestic business, arts and media, and diplomacy.

Students study the language, linguistics, literature, culture and civilization of Spain, Spanish America and the Spanish-speaking areas of the United States in their undergraduate coursework. The program offers a comparatively high degree of flexibility for students to focus their studies in one or more of the following fields of Hispanic studies: Spanish linguistics and methods of teaching Spanish as a world language, and Spanish American literature and cultural studies.

Courses are offered in a variety of formats: in person, remote and asynchronous online.

Students choose from two options for completion of their master’s degree:

• 27 hours of Master's level Coursework plus written thesis (6 credit hours) and oral thesis defense; OR
• 33 hours of Master's level Coursework plus 4 written exams and oral exam defense

Application Process

Students must complete a 4+1 intent form to formally declare this program, as they work very closely with undergraduate and graduate advisors to ensure they are on track and completing requirements as necessary. A maximum of 12 credit hours of graduate-level courses that are applied to the undergraduate degree will apply to the graduate degree.

If you are interested please contact your Spanish Faculty Advisor as early as possible.

 Academic Catalog