Admission
DEADLINE: It is the applicant's responsibility to ensure all documents reach the department by: DECEMBER 1, 2025.
**THE GRE REQUIREMENT IS WAIVED FOR THE ADMISSISION CYCLE OF FALL 2025.
Prerequisite Coursework
A Bachelor's degree with a major in Spanish or Portuguese, or demonstration of equivalent knowledge, such as the satisfactory completion of 18 upper-division, undergraduate semester credit hours in either language, is required. The Office of Graduate Admissions (OGA) determines degree equivalency.
Grade Point Average
A 3.25 GPA in upper-division undergraduate courses, and any previous graduate courses, is preferred.
Application Fee
Pay your non-refundable application fee by credit card (Visa and MasterCard accepted) when you complete the application.
U.S. Graduate: $65 / International Graduate: $90
If you can’t afford the application fee and are a U.S. citizen or permanent resident applying to pursue your first graduate degree, you may be eligible for a fee waiver (not available for the MBA or MPA programs). Fee waivers are not available for international citizens.
If you intend to seek a waiver, do not pay the application fee when prompted. Instead, submit your application and indicate you will pay later.
Transcripts
After satisfying the application fee, provide an official transcript from every senior college you have attended. Even if courses taken at one institution are recorded on another college's transcript, transcripts must be submitted from the institution at which the courses were taken. Failure to list all colleges on the application and provide those transcripts will be considered an intentional omission and may lead to the cancellation of your application for admission or withdrawal of your offer of admission.
Official transcripts bear the facsimile signature of the registrar and the seal of the issuing institution. Transcripts from U.S. colleges or universities must have been produced within the last calendar year, and should include the award of degree printed on the transcript unless coursework is still in progress. Transcripts written in a language other than English must be accompanied by a translation. We do not accept outside evaluations of foreign transcripts. Each transcript (mark sheet) should contain a complete record of studies at the institution from which it is issued (i.e., the subjects taken and grades [marks] earned in each subject). Please visit How to Apply for Graduate Admission on the Graduate School website for more information on transcripts and how to submit them.
Additional Info
Other Factors
The Graduate Admissions and Financial Committee (GAFA) carefully reviews each application and takes into consideration other factors besides the GPA, GRE and transcripts when selecting new students. Recommendation letters and your Statement of Purpose are important indicators of such qualities as motivation, special interests, maturity, teaching ability, work ethics, and character which are not measured by numbers or transcripts. The interview provides an indication of your fluency in both English and Spanish or Portuguese and helps evaluate your qualifications for a teaching assistantship.
Conditional Admittance
Students who do not meet the preferred criteria stated above may be admitted to the graduate program "conditionally" with such stipulations as maintaining a 3.0 GPA and having no incomplete grades, or completing certain pre-requisite classes which will not be counted as degree requirements. The GAFA will determine stipulations for students admitted conditionally. Students admitted with conditions may not be appointed to teaching assistantships until conditions are removed.
Teaching Assistantship Selection
Most financial aid is given in the form of teaching assistantships and assistant instructorships to qualified new students. There are only a few scholarships available for which selected students will be nominated. You will be informed in an admittance confirmation letter if you have been nominated for a scholarship or selected to be a teaching assistant or assistant instructor.
YOUR APPLICATION WILL NOT BE REVIEWED UNTIL ALL MATERIALS HAVE BEEN RECEIVED. To check on the status of your application to the Spanish & Portuguese Department, please contact the Graduate Coordinator at josephine.foster@austin.utexas.edu or phone: (512) 232-4502. You can check on the status of your application through the Office of Graduate Admissions (OGA) online with your application ID.
DEADLINE: IT IS THE APPLICANT'S RESPONSIBILITY TO MAKE SURE ALL DOCUMENTS REACH THE DEPARTMENT BY DECEMBER 1, 2025.