Program Overview
About the Chicana & Chicano Studies Program
The University of New Mexico offers an online Bachelor’s Degree completion program in Chicana and Chicano Studies, with a concentration in Transnational Latino Perspectives. This degree is perfect for professionals, politicians, community members, and those looking to work with Latino immigrant and ethnic populations in the United States.
In the United States, societies are increasingly heterogeneous with Latinos emerging as vibrant ethnic communities. The population shift presents a critical need to build diversity awareness through an appreciation of multilingualism, multiculturalism, and thoughtful engagement. Chicana and Chicano Studies is also known as Mexican American Studies and is also one component of Latino Studies offered at other colleges and universities in the United States. A Chicana and Chicano Studies major enhances student analytical, critical thinking, communication, cross-cultural competency, leadership, and problem-solving skills. Similar to other Ethnic Studies types programs, Chicana and Chicano Studies provides students with a grounding in social justice and community-based advocacy.
The online Chicana and Chicano Studies major is a good foundation for pursuing a graduate degree in law, the humanities, or the social sciences. For those wishing to pursue a Latino Studies graduate program, the online degree in Chicana and Chicano Studies will prepare students for graduate school success.
Possible Careers
A degree in Chicana and Chicano Studies will help prepare students to enter the following academic pathways or careers:
- Art and design
- Film direction and production
- Marketing, journalism, professional writing
- Diplomacy, international communications
- Local and national governments, public policy
- Community and regional planning
- Advising, counseling, or legal professions
- Public policy, research
- Education, business
Want More Insight?
To gain a better understanding of this culturally important program, read our interview with Laura Belmonte, Ph.D., an instructor in the accelerated online BA in Chicana and Chicano Studies
Learning Goals
In your online course work, we will examine historical and contemporary dynamics and explore issues facing U.S.-based Latino descent communities. As we progress, you will gain skills to work, and live, with complex and changing populations in the United States.
In this program, you will:
- Draw on diverse gendered, social, historical, economic and cultural perspectives to evaluate the historical and contemporary conditions, issues, and challenges facing diverse Mexican descent populations
- Analyze intersectionality to understand the impact of the social construction of race, class, gender, and sexuality as it relates to diverse Chicana/o, and Latina/o communities
- Apply technology in individual and collaborative learning situations to engage key concepts and problems, solve tasks, or develop solutions to problems
- Engage in creative and community-responsive problem-solving to address questions of social justice facing community-based organizations
- Evaluate the applicability, and relevance, of theories and approaches to Chicana/o experiences and to the discipline
Admissions
Tuition and Fees
Total cost per-credit-hour for this program is $442.18 and is comprised of: $394.80 base tuition + $10.52 college differential + $36.86 upper division course premium. There is a student technology fee charged each semester. It is $150 in the Fall, $150 in the Spring, and $20 in the Summer. There may be additional costs, depending on the class. Additional costs are often for textbooks, supplemental course materials, and proctoring fees. Non-AOP online courses are assessed at the regular UNM tuition rates.
Admission Requirements
The Chicana and Chicano Studies (CCS) Accelerated Online Program offers all of the courses associated with the major requirements needed to complete the BA (with a concentration in Transnational Latino Perspectives) in an online, eight-week format. To qualify, students must have already completed a majority of the UNM core curriculum, as well as college and minor requirements. A student with an associate's degree or at least 60-70 transferable college-level credit hours is ideally positioned for eligibility. Please see the information provided in the Degree Requirements tab.
UNM operates on a semester calendar of Summer, Fall, and Spring. Course schedules are available during each semester's registration period. Registration opens in early April for the Summer and Fall Semesters and early November for the Spring Semester.
View information for the current schedule of registration dates.
If you are interested in learning more about other online course offerings, in addition to the ones associated with the Accelerated Online Program, see the current schedule of all online classes. Please note that the special tuition rate is only applied to courses associated with accelerated online programs.
There are no additional requirements for admission to the Chicana and Chicano Studies program. For more information on degree and admission requirements, please refer to the UNM Catalog.
Applying to the Chicana & Chicano Studies Program
To begin the application process for this accelerated online program, click on the Request Information button at the top of this page, reach out to the contact person listed in the Contacts section shown on the right side of this page.
Degree Requirements
General UNM Degree Requirements
To graduate with a BA degree in Chicana and Chicano Studies, a student must complete a minimum of 120 credit hours. UNM requires 31 credit hours distributed between seven areas to complete the UNM General Education requirements. The university also requires completion of a 3 credit hour U.S. and Global Diversity and Inclusion requirement. Students may transfer coursework from other accredited institutions to fulfill these requirements. The CCS Accelerated Online Program is designed for students who have completed an associate's degree or have at least 60-70 transferable college-level credit hours. See program details for more information.
The College of Arts and Sciences requires a minimum of 90 credit hours taught within its departments. Students in the College of Arts and Sciences must declare a major and a minor, or two majors, or special curricula approved by the College. Half of the major must be completed at the University of New Mexico. A quarter of the minor must be completed at the University of New Mexico. A list of minors in an accelerated format can be found on our AOP Online Minors page.
For individuals seeking a second bachelor’s degree in Chicana and Chicano Studies, the coursework will focus on fulfilling the CCS major requirements and the accompanying requirements necessary for a minor. UNM requires a minimum of 30 new hours for a second award.
To earn an undergraduate degree from the University of New Mexico, the following requirements must be met:
- A minimum 30 hours of coursework completed at UNM (UNM Residency Requirement)
- 50% of the Major completed at UNM
- 25% of the Minor completed at UNM
Once admitted all students seeking to declare a major within the College of Arts and Sciences will first be admitted as a Pre-major. Pre-major status applies to students who must satisfy prerequisites or meet department conditions before transitioning to Major status. The following are the general requirements to transition:
- A minimum of 26 credit hours; 23 credit hours must be in courses acceptable toward graduation
- A UNM GPA of 2.0 or better
- Demonstrated academic achievement by satisfying the completion of the following University General Education areas:
- Communication
- Mathematics and Statistics
- Second Language
- Completion of introductory coursework specified by each department. See the departments section of the UNM catalog for details.
Program Requirements
The major requirements for completing the BA degree in Chicana and Chicano total 36 credit hours (27 credit hours for major core courses and 9 hours for the concentration). Special course sections are scheduled for Accelerated Online Program students and offered cyclically. Look for the courses in the current schedule of classes with a course comment that reads "Limited to managed online program students only." Below is a listing of all of the courses that are available for the program.
| Course Number | Course Name | Credit Hours |
| CCST 1110* | Intro to Comparative Ethnic and Global Societies | 3 |
| CCST 1125 | Chicana-o Latina-o Musical Cultures and Expressions | 3 |
| CCST 2110* | Introduction to CCS | 3 |
| SPAN 2120 | Spanish IV | 3 |
| CCS 310* | Immigration and Assimilation | 3 |
| CCS 330 | Transnational Feminisms | 3 |
| CCS 332* | Introduction to Chicana Studies | 3 |
| CCS 364* | Raza Genders and Sexualities | 3 |
| CCS 370 | Chicana/o Cultural Studies | 3 |
| CCS 384* | Community-Based Learning in CCS | 3 |
| CCS 460 | Latinos in a Global Society | 3 |
| CCS 480 | New Approaches in CCS | 3 |
| CCS 490* | Advanced Seminar in CCS | 3 |
*Course meets UNM's U.S. Global Diversity & Inclusion undergraduate requirement.
