The curriculum provides students with an attractive mixture of classes with Latin-American, Spanish Peninsular, U.S. Latino, and Transatlantic grounding. Studies will include the renowned works of Cervantes, including Don Quixote.
200 B.B. Comer Hall
Admission into the Major
Course placement information appears in the Spanish course description section of the catalog. Students are expected to formally declare a major no later than the fourth semester of full-time enrollment (or at 61 semester hours for transfer students). Students can declare a major by completing the Change of Major/Minor Application online under the Student tab of myBama. Additionally, students must declare a major with the undergraduate advisor in the department.
Special Opportunities
The Spanish program at The University of Alabama offers a quality education and a range of learning opportunities. These include the Alabama in Spain summer abroad program, the Spanish Outreach program in the Tuscaloosa/Northport area and UA’s semester abroad program in Cuba (offered by the College of Arts and Sciences). The Department of Modern Languages and Classics also offers honors courses in Spanish.
Students earning the Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree with a major in Spanish must complete all University, College and departmental degree requirements. These include the general education requirements, the following major requirements, all requirements for an approved minor and other sufficient credits to total a minimum of 120 applicable semester hours.
| Code and Title | Hours |
| 9 |
| Spanish Conversation 1 | |
| Spanish for Native Speakers |
| Adv Grammar And Compos | |
| Cultures of Spain | |
| Cultures of Latin America |
| 6 |
| Literatures of Spain pre-1800 | |
| Literatures of Spain post-1800 | |
| LatAm Literatures pre-1900 | |
| LatAm Literatures post-1900 | |
| US Latino Literature | |
| 3 |
| Fundamentals of Spanish Ling. | |
| Spanish Pronunciation | |
| 3 |
| 6 |
| 27 |
| |
| SP 101 | Introductory Spanish I | 3 |
| SP 102 | Introductory Spanish II | 3 |
| SP 201 | Intermediate Spanish I | 3 |
| SP 202 | Intermediate Spanish II | 3 |
| 12 |
| Total Hours | 39 |
Course Placement
The course level at which students begin their study of Spanish is determined by the language placement score, AP score, and/or IB score. All students who do not have an AP or IB score should take the UA placement test. The UA placement test is available online at myBama.ua.edu by clicking on the search box and typing "Foreign Language Assessment."
For more detailed placement guidelines, see the College website or Spanish program website: https://mlc.ua.edu/spanish/undergraduate/course-placement/.
Credit Option | Placement | Credit received with grade of "Pass" (C- or better) |
| SP 101 | No prior instruction in Spanish. |
| SP 102 | UA placement test, or SP 101 completed at UA with a C- or higher, or an IB score of 4 |
| SP 201 | UA placement test, or SP 102 completed at UA with a C- or higher, or an IB score of 5, or an AP score of 3 |
| SP 202 | UA placement test, or SP 201 completed at UA with a C- or higher, or an IB score of 6, or an AP score of 4 |
| SP 353 / SP 356 | UA placement test, or SP 202 completed at UA with a C- or higher, or an IB score of 7, or an AP score of 5 |
Credit Option
Back credit petition: If placed above SP 101, students are potentially eligible to receive additional back credit upon written petition. Heritage language or bilingual students cannot receive back credit for SP 100-200 courses.
Grade Point Average
A 2.0 grade point average in the major is required for completion of the degree. Please see the Grades and Grade Points section of this catalog for an explanation on grade point average calculations.
Upper-level Residency
A minimum of 12 hours of 300- and 400-level courses in the major must be earned on this campus. Courses taken in UA summer programs (such as Spain and/or Colombia) may be used to satisfy the residency requirement.
Required Minor
This major requires the completion of a minor.
Additional Major Requirements
Students are responsible for ensuring that they have met all University, College, major, and minor requirements. However, each student must meet with an advisor in the major department for academic planning and to be approved for registration each semester. College advisers are also available for additional assistance with minor, College, and University requirements. For more details, regarding the completion of the Spanish BA, check the departmental website at https://mlc.ua.edu/spanish/undergraduate/major/.
Career opportunities include teaching of Spanish at the high school level, master's degree, doctorate in Spanish, diplomatic corps, FBI, NSA, CIA, translator, interpreter, and hospitality careers (tourism).
A Spanish major is a great double major to have with history, international relations, political science, English, engineering, pre-med, and many others.
Types of Jobs Accepted
sales representative with foreign firm, Spanish teacher at the high school level, Teach for America, international banker, interpreter, translator, and more
Jobs of Experienced Alumni
university professor, high school teacher, junior or state college teacher, interpreter, translator, international banker, international sales representative, international advertising, media consultant, and more
Learn more about opportunities in this field at the Career Center
