Dive Brief:
- A new report shows that foreign language courses at colleges in the U.S. are losing students, with enrollment dropping 6.7% from the fall semesters of 2009 to 2013.
- Spanish and French are the two most-studied foreign languages at each college level — two-year schools, four-year schools, and graduate school.
- While Spanish classes had more students than all of the other foreign languages combined, enrollment in the subject declined 8% over the four-year period, the Chronicle of Higher Education reported.
Dive Insight:
The report, from the Modern Language Association, shows the overall decline in foreign language class enrollment after growth for 20 years. American Sign Language, the third-most-studied language, saw enrollment increase by 216% in graduate schools, and at two-year colleges it was No. 2. The overall decline for foreign languages could be due to shifting student interests into business classes and other career-oriented classes during the recession. Foreign language class enrollments had been increasing overall for 20 years prior to the 2009-2013 decline.
