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Hispanic & Latin American Languages

Types of Degrees Hispanic & Latin American Languages Majors Are Earning

Students pursuing Hispanic & Latin American Languages may pursue degrees at several award levels.

Award Level	Graduates
Certificate	23
Bachelor’s Degree	187
Master’s Degree	386
Doctor’s Degree	28

What Hispanic & Latin American Languages Majors Need to Know

Programs in Hispanic & Latin American Languages emphasize a specific mix of knowledge, skills, and abilities — derived from O*NET surveys of workers in occupations that Hispanic & Latin American Languages graduates commonly enter.

Knowledge Areas

According to O*NET, a major in Hispanic & Latin American Languages emphasizes the following knowledge areas:

• Foreign Language — Importance 4.7 / 5; level 5.9 / 7.
• English Language — Importance 4.5 / 5; level 5.2 / 7.
• Education and Training — Importance 3.8 / 5; level 4.8 / 7.
• Administrative — Importance 3.1 / 5; level 3.6 / 7.
• Sociology and Anthropology — Importance 2.8 / 5; level 3.5 / 7.

^{Importance is rated 1–5; level is 1–7. Source: ONET Online — weighted across related occupations.*}

Skills

Skills emphasized by a Hispanic & Latin American Languages program reflects the day-to-day work of related occupations:

• Speaking — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.
• Active Listening — Importance 4 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.
• Reading Comprehension — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.
• Writing — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.
• Critical Thinking — Importance 3.7 / 5; level 3.9 / 7.

Abilities

The cognitive and physical abilities most relevant to Hispanic & Latin American Languages careers — again drawn from O*NET surveys of related occupations:

• Speech Clarity — Importance 4.3 / 5; level 4.8 / 7.
• Oral Expression — Importance 4.2 / 5; level 4.8 / 7.
• Oral Comprehension — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.7 / 7.
• Written Expression — Importance 4 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.
• Written Comprehension — Importance 4 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.

Common Job Activities

Day-to-day, Hispanic & Latin American Languages graduates report doing:

Activity	Frequency / Importance
Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others	4.2 / 7
Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge	4.1 / 7
Training and Teaching Others	4.1 / 7
Thinking Creatively	4.0 / 7
Getting Information	3.9 / 7
Working with Computers	3.9 / 7
Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships	3.8 / 7
Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work	3.7 / 7
Making Decisions and Solving Problems	3.7 / 7
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates	3.7 / 7

Technology Skills Used on the Job

Most frequently-cited tools used by Hispanic & Latin American Languages professionals:

Tool / Software	Category	In-Demand
Microsoft Outlook	Electronic mail software	—
Microsoft Office software	Office suite software	✓
Microsoft PowerPoint	Presentation software	✓
Web browser software	Internet browser software	—
Microsoft Word	Word processing software	—
Microsoft Excel	Spreadsheet software	✓
Adobe Illustrator	Graphics or photo imaging software	—
Computer assisted language learning CALL software	Foreign language software	—
Adobe PageMaker	Desktop publishing software	—
Calendar and scheduling software	Calendar and scheduling software	—
Moodle	Computer based training software	—
QuarkXPress	Desktop publishing software	—

^{Source: ONET Online technology skills, weighted across related occupations.*}

Sample Job Titles

Real job postings for Hispanic & Latin American Languages graduates include:

• Language Arts Teacher
• Adjunct Instructor
• Associate Professor
• ESL Instructor (English as a Second Language Instructor)
• Italian Teacher
• Hebrew Professor
• French Instructor
• College Professor
• Spanish Teacher
• French Professor
• German Professor
• Assistant Professor
• Greek Professor
• Program Instructor
• Spanish Professor

Education Typically Required

Across the occupations open to Hispanic & Latin American Languages graduates, the typical level of education actually held by current workers is distributed as:

Education Level	Share of Workers
Doctoral degree	44.6%
Bachelor’s degree	26.8%
Master’s degree	21.8%
High school diploma or equivalent	3.1%
Associate’s degree (or other 2-year)	1.7%
Post-master’s certificate	1.4%
Postsecondary certificate	0.5%

^{Source: ONET Online education / training / experience requirements.*}

Who Is Earning a Degree in Hispanic & Latin American Languages?

Gender Distribution

This field skews predominantly female, with women earning 71.5% of Hispanic & Latin American Languages degrees.

Gender	Graduates	Share
Women	446	71.5%
Men	178	28.5%

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the national level, the racial-ethnic distribution of Hispanic & Latin American Languages graduates is as follows:

Race / Ethnicity	Graduates	Share
White	206	33.0%
Asian	50	8.0%
Hispanic or Latino	282	45.2%
Black or African American	25	4.0%
American Indian / Alaska Native	1	0.2%
Two or More Races	9	1.4%
Race Unknown	9	1.4%
International Students	42	6.7%

^{See minority definition below.}

How Much Do Hispanic & Latin American Languages Graduates Earn?

Federal data tracks median earnings of Hispanic & Latin American Languages graduates 1, 4, and 5 years after completion. Earnings tend to climb steadily as graduates gain experience and move into mid-career roles.

Years Out	Median Earnings
1 year	$35,134
4 years	$47,838
5 years	$56,094

By year 5 out, median earnings rise to $56,094 — roughly 60% above the 1-year mark.

^{Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, field-of-study earnings tracker.}

Online Hispanic & Latin American Languages Programs

Online study is reported by IPEDS for Hispanic & Latin American Languages. The table below shows how many graduates earned at least some of their coursework online (Distance-Ed Available) versus completing the entire program online (Distance-Ed Only).

Award Level	Distance-Ed Available	Distance-Ed Only
Master’s	2	0

^{Distance-Ed Only = degrees completed entirely online; Distance-Ed Available = degrees including at least some online coursework. Source: IPEDS Completions by Distance Education status.}

Is a Degree in Hispanic & Latin American Languages Worth It?

On the earnings side, the federal earnings tracker, Hispanic & Latin American Languages graduates earn a median of $47,838 four years after completion — roughly 26% above the national median for workers with only a high school diploma (~$38,000).

^{ROI estimate compares the program’s 4-yr median earnings against the 2023 BLS CPS median earnings for high-school-only workers. Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard + BLS Current Population Survey.}

Related Programs

You may also be interested in these closely related fields of study:

Program	CIP Code
Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	16.09
Catalan Language and Literature	16.0907
French Language and Literature	16.0901
Italian Language and Literature	16.0902
Portuguese Language and Literature	16.0904
Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics, Other	16.0999
Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	16.0900
Romanian Language and Literature	16.0906
Spanish Language and Literature	16.0905
African Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	16.0201
Albanian Language and Literature	16.0404
American Indian/Native American Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	16.1001

References

The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students and international students. This number is then divided by the total number of students to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS)
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard

More about our data sources and methodologies.