Academics

Latina/Latino studies graduates have gone on to pursue advanced degrees and find employment in a wide variety of fields. 

What skills do you gain from a degree in Latina/Latino studies? 

The skills you gain with a degree in Latina/Latino studies are highly transferrable across a range of industries and professions.

  • academic advisor sean engages with prospective students

    Deeply critical and analytic thinking

  • Clear, concise, and compelling communication
  • Courage to disagree and think independently
  • Commitment to community and justice
  • Insight into the complexity of solving problems
  • Skill in asking probing and relevant questions
  • Knowledge of Latina/Latino communities and history
  • Experience understanding ambiguity
  • Aptitude for sorting and condensing information
  • Intercultural knowledge and understanding

Explore our undergraduate program

What jobs can I do with a Latina/Latino studies degree?

Latina/Latino studies majors pursue careers in the following fields:

  • woman shares information with student

    Community/Social Service Centers

  • Nonprofit Organizations
  • Social Work
  • Child Welfare
  • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
  • Employment/Human Resources
  • Environmental Advocacy
  • Healthcare organizations, Advocacy Groups, and Hospitals
  • Labor Unions
  • Law Firms, Legal Aid
  • Libraries
  • Mental Health
  • Schools, Colleges, and Universities (Academic Advisors, Counselors & Career Coaches, Secondary Education Teachers, Professors)
  • Youth Outreach and Mentoring

Read alumni stories

Career Resources

The University of Illinois and College of Liberal Arts and Sciences offer a variety of career counseling services that you can take advantage of as a student.
Career Center LAS Career Services Paul M. Lisnek LAS Hub

Graduate and Professional School School Preparation

A bachelor's degree in Latina/Latino studies provides an excellent foundation for graduate school. 

Our graduates pursue advanced degrees in:

Graduating student holds up diploma
  • Political Science
  • Administrative and Policy Studies
  • Public Affairs
  • Public Policy
  • Urban Planning and Policy
  • Caribbean Studies
  • Critical Ethnic Studies
  • Law
  • Criminology and Criminal Justice
  • Public Health
  • History
  • Latin American and Latino Studies
  • Library and Information Science
  • Sound Studies
  • Education
  • Curriculum and Instruction
  • Early Childhood Special Education
  • Education Policy, Organization and Leadership
  • School Counseling
  • Higher Education (Student Affairs, Administration and Policy)
  • Marketing
  • Organizational Communication
  • Social Work
  • Mental Health Counseling

Resources for graduate school

Image of Juan Mora smiling at the camera

Alumni spotlight: Juan Mora, PhD, '13 - Assistant Professor, Department of History and Latino Studies Program, Indiana University, Bloomington

Juan Mora, PhD, earned his BA in History and Latina/Latino Studies in 2013. He arrived at UIUC as an undergraduate majoring in History. For his first two years at Illinois, he struggled to find the specific areas of studying history that could encourage him to succeed. As he explained, “It was when I combined Latina/o Studies with History that I was able to thrive.” Courses with Dr. Adrian Burgos Jr. and Dr. Mireya Loza, like Caribbean Latina/o Migration and Latino Social Movements, respectively, were instrumental to his development as a student and shaped his decision to eventually major in...