Why Pursue a Spanish Master's Degree
With almost 500 million native speakers, Spanish comes second in the world based on the number of its native speakers. By 2060 the U.S. will be the second largest Spanish-speaking country in the world (surpassing all other Spanish-speaking countries except for Mexico). Therefore, high proficiency in the Spanish language and knowledge of the cultures of Spanish-speaking peoples open doors to numerous opportunities in healthcare, law, business, government, military, law enforcement, education, and many more fields.
The Spanish MA can be combined with Graduate Certificates in Linguistics and in Translation and Interpreting Studies. These offer excellent training and opportunities to deepen students’ skill sets.
What You'll Learn
In addition to developing a high degree of language and cultural competence, MA students in Spanish at UTSA develop key skills such as:
- Critical thinking
- Interpretation and creation of texts, such as literature from across the Spanish-speaking world, creative writing, film and other digital media artifacts, and other cultural artifacts that contribute to the construction of knowledge
- Analysis of social, cultural, environmental, and linguistic movements and phenomena that impact the Spanish-speaking world
- Analysis of linguistic data (such as recorded speech from different geographic regions where Spanish is spoken)
- Translation and interpreting between Spanish and English
Admission & Application Requirements
Applications are submitted through the UTSA Graduate Application. Please upload all required documents (listed below) on your UTSA Graduate Application. It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure completion and submission of the application, a nonrefundable application fee, and all required supporting documents are on file with UTSA by the appropriate application deadline.
| Spanish (MA) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Required Degree | Bachelor's Degree from an accredited college or university in the United States or have proof of equivalent training at a foreign institution. | |
| Minimum GPA | 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) cumulative GPA and in undergraduate upper-division coursework in Spanish. Departments may consider GPA of last 60 semester credit hours | |
| Coursework | 18 credit hours in an area related to this graduate degree and at least 12 hours must be at the upper-division level. This includes 12 or more upper-division hours in Hispanic cultures, literatures, or linguistics and a mastery of oral and written skills in Spanish in an academic register. Upper-division grammar, oral communication, and language skills courses may not be included in this requirement. | |
| Transcripts* | Required from all institutions attended; international transcripts must be recorded/translated to English | |
| Credential Evaluation | Required if you have earned university-level credit from foreign institutions. Submit an evaluation of your transcripts from Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE) directly from the graduate admission application platform | |
| English Language Proficiency | 550 TOEFL Paper / 79 TOEFL Internet / 6.5 IELTS / Duolingo 100 | |
| Purpose Statement | Required one- to two-page statement written in Spanish describing the objectives of proposed graduate study. | |
| Letters of Recommendation | 2 academic or professional reference(s) demonstrating your attributes for successful completion of this program (you will request these through the Graduate Admissions Application; let your recommenders know of your deadline to ensure submissions are on time) | |
| *Unofficial transcripts will be taken into consideration for admissions; however, if admitted into the program, you must submit official transcripts to the University. | ||
Application Deadlines
Applicants are encouraged to have their admission file completed as early as possible. All applications, required documents and letters of recommendation, if applicable, must be submitted by 5:00 PM U.S. Central Time on the day of the deadline. Deadlines are subject to change.
| Spanish (MA) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Timing on Admission Decision: Completed applications will be reviewed for admission on a rolling basis. Decisions generally will be made and sent to applicants within 4 to 6 weeks of receiving the application. | |||
| Application Deadlines for: | Priority | International | Domestic |
| Spring 2025 | October 1 | October 1 | |
| Summer 2025 | March 1 | March 1 | |
| Fall 2025 | June 1 | August 1 | |
| Spring 2026 | October 1 | October 1 | |
| Summer 2026 | March 1 | March 1 | |
Funding Opportunities
ResourcesCareer Options
UTSA prepares you for future careers that are in demand. The possible careers below is data pulled by a third-party tool called Emsi, which pulls information from sources like the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Census Bureau, online job postings, other government databases and more to give you regional and national career outlook related to this academic program.
