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Minor in Spanish Language & Culture

The Department of World Languages and Cultures is happy to offer a minor in Spanish, requiring the completion of 18 credit hours, as outlined below.

If you have any prior experience with studying/speaking Spanish, please review our Placement Exam information prior to registration.

Please contact worldlanguages@drake.edu if you have questions about declaring a minor.

Objectives of the Spanish Minor

The program objectives/outcomes for the Spanish minor are as follows:

To allow students to earn transcriptable recognition of their work in the Spanish language and culture beyond a listing of individual courses and
To allow students to demonstrate their ability to communicate competently in the Spanish language and culture.

Successful completion of all required courses indicates that a student has achieved the desired outcomes.

Requirements for Spanish Minors Declared in Fall 2023 or Later

Students must take:

15 hours in Spanish at or above SPAN 003 (third semester); AND
An additional upper-level course in Spanish, at or above SPAN 150 or one elective course taught in English that is related to the culture of Latin America and/or Spain (3 hours)

Total = 18 hours (a minimum of 12 hours of Spanish courses must be taken at Drake)

Students may apply no more than 6 transfer and/or dual credit hours to a language minor. This policy does not apply to Drake-approved study abroad programs. You may earn:

3 credits for an AP placement of 4 on the language exam
6 credits for an AP placement of 5 on the language exam
6 credits for an AP placement of 4 or 5 on the literature exam
3 credits for a CLEP placement over 50 for the Level One exam
6 credits for a CLEP placement over 50 on the Level Two exam
6 credits for having completed an IB program and successfully passed the exam

Students may not receive both the Minor in Spanish Language and Culture and the Minor in Spanish for the Medical and Health Professions.

Requirements for Spanish Minors Declared in Fall 2020 or Later

Students must take:

15 hours in Spanish at or above SPAN 003 (third semester);
WLC 148 Intercultural Communication (3 hours); AND
Either one of the following:
- One elective course taught in English that is related to the cultures of Latin America and/or Spain (3 hours); OR
- An additional upper-level course in Spanish at or above SPAN 150 (3 hours).

Total = 21 hours (a minimum of 12 hours of Spanish courses must be taken at Drake)

Please note that we do not accept AP, CLEP, or IB credits for minors.

Students may not receive both the Minor in Spanish Language and Culture and the Minor in Spanish for the Medical and Health Professions.

Requirements Prior to Fall 2020

Prior to Fall 2020, there were two tracks for fulfilling the requirements for a minor in language and culture. If a current student declared a minor before Fall 2020, they may choose either to continue with their previously-chosen track listed below or to switch to the current requirements set out above. (Students declaring a minor in Fall 2020 or later must meet the current requirements described above.)

Track 1

18 hours in the language
- for French, German, and Spanish, 18 hours above 003
- for Arabic, Chinese, and Japanese, 18 hours beginning with 001 or above
WLC 148 Intercultural Communication (3 hours)

Total = 21 hours (a minimum of 12 credit hours must be taken at Drake)

Track 2

Language study, 001 and above (12 hours minimum, at least 9 must be taken at Drake; more than 12 hours would be acceptable and encouraged)
Courses in the fields of art, economics, English, history, marketing, music, philosophy/religion, political science, study of culture and society, world languages and cultures (up to 9 hours)

Total = 21 hours

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