What is a major in Spanish like?

Foreign language majors consist mostly of the study of the literature of the language, just as English majors consist of the study of British and American literature. Fluency in the language is supposed to be gained in the first two years, with possibly a third year for difficult languages such as those that use a different alphabet or other writing system.

You can start a Spanish major with no knowledge of Spanish, but I do not advise that as you will be competing with students who have grown up bilingually. Your state university is fine. The bad news is that foreign language majors seldom lead to a job. This is particularly true of Spanish as so many people in the US are bilingual in Spanish and you will be competing with them in the job market.