Students at The University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College have two new degree programs starting this year.

The College of Applied Technology and General Studies now has a bachelor’s degree in multidisciplinary studies and the College of Liberal Arts recently received approval from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to offer an online master’s degree in Spanish translation and interpreting.

The master’s degree in Spanish translation and interpreting is the only such degree program in Texas and the only completely online program in the United States.

"I find it very convenient," said Maria Fernanda Calderon, 24, a senior Spanish translation and interpreting major from Brownsville and Guadalajara, Mexico. "I plan to travel and I can follow a master’s program."

The courses in the 15-hour graduate certificate in Spanish translation form the core classes for the new master’s program.

"We really expect to be appealing to a wide range of people, mostly professional translators that already work and who are just too far away from a campus where translation is offered as a master’s degree," said Jose Davila, assistant professor and coordinator of Translating and Interpreting Programs in the Department of Modern Languages.

Faculty from UTB-TSC, Hunter College and Ithaca College in New York, the Autonomous University of Barcelona in Spain and Dublin City University in Ireland will teach the online courses.

"I like that I learn a lot on the cultural aspects," said Clara Fernandez Cantu, 23, a senior Spanish translation and interpreting major from Matamoros, Mexico.

Translation and interpretation degrees enable students to get jobs in the court system, health care, government and other fields.

For more information about the master’s degree in Spanish translation and interpreting, call the College of Liberal Arts at (956) 882-8253.