Graduate courses in Hispanic Studies in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at Loyola University Chicago are designed for students who seek professional growth in the areas of language proficiency, research skills, linguistics and in-depth interpretation of literature and culture. Courses cover a wide range of topics and exemplify different critical approaches. Members of the faculty welcome scholars in pursuit of the rewards of intellectual stimulation and of heightened multicultural and historical consciousness. Our courses are attractive both to those who wish to earn a PhD and to elementary and secondary teachers who seek professional advancement. Recent graduates have gone on to earn their doctorates at Columbia University, UC Davis, UW Madison, SUNY Buffalo, and the University of Tennessee, while others have begun their teaching careers at Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, Loyola Academy, and other schools in Chicago, the greater metropolitan area, and beyond.

The program offers graduate courses in a number of areas. Our students experience both the traditional lecture/discussion courses and the graduate seminar. All graduate classes are conducted by full-time members of the department. Specific attention is given to the individual needs of students through directed readings and research studies. Graduate students also have the opportunity to work as Program Assistant to the Director of our undergraduate summer study abroad program at Universidad Loyola Andalucía, in Córdoba, Spain.

The department prides itself on the attention we give to our graduate students. We encourage interaction among students within and outside the formal classroom setting. We are committed to a strong advising program that gives students the individual attention necessary to complete their graduate work successfully. Close to 80% of our students receive their MA in two years. Given the flexible nature of our program, with permission graduate students may take up to two graduate seminars offered by other academic departments at Loyola University in areas such as literary theory, history, philosophy, bilingual education and women's studies and gender studies. They may also take up to two advanced courses in Spanish at the undergraduate level, and, if approved, transfer up to two graduate-level courses (or six hours), including study abroad, toward their graduate degree.