No previous study of Russian is required for admission to the major. Study in Russia under the University's Education Abroad Program is available for qualified students. Students are advised to combine their study of Russian with another foreign language, English, history, political science, the Russian Area Studies minor, the Business/Liberal Arts minor, or the Linguistics minor. Graduates of this program have found employment in international business, the U.S. government, in the educational and publishing fields, and in the travel industry.

Russian Studies is an interdisciplinary sub-field of the Humanities and Slavic Studies that pertains to linguistics, literature, arts, history, politics, and more, with a primary focus on the language, literature, and culture of historical and contemporary Russia, including the Soviet period and the Russian-speaking diaspora.