Less than six years after launching an online bachelor’s degree program in Arabic, California University of Pennsylvania will debut an online master of arts in Arabic language and linguistics this summer.
The new program, which is entirely online, is meant in part to meet the demands for additional education and specialization among students in the school’s bachelor’s degree program that boasts 44 graduates and 67 students.
“Due to the unstable situation in some parts of the Arabic-speaking world, the need to understand both the Arabic language and Arabic culture has increased tremendously,” Razak Abedalla-Surrey, director of Cal U’s master’s degree program, said in a statement announcing the program.
Classes in the master’s program will start in July.
The undergraduate Arabic program also is offered entirely online. Last year, university officials inked a credit transfer agreement for the program with the Department of Defense’s Foreign Language Institute. Cal U spokeswoman Christine Kindl said the program has attracted students from around the world, including those serving in the military and in the Defense Department.
“One student left recently to do relief work in Syria,” Kindl said, noting the 30-credit master’s in Arabic can be completed in 16 months.
