College Foreign Language Enrollment

According to a study, undergraduate enrollments in foreign-language courses at American colleges and universities rose 6.6 percent between 2006 and 2009. Graduate level foreign-language enrollments, however, declined 6.7 percent for the same period. Spanish, French, German, and American Sign Language (ASL) are the four most popular languages. Arabic has risen two positions in the ranking since 2006 to eighth most popular.

Furman, N., Goldberg, D., & Lusin, N. (2010). Enrollments in languages other than English in United States institutions of higher education, fall 2009. United States: The Modern Language Association of America. www.mla.org/pdf/2009_enrollment_survey.pdf  

Foreign Language Enrollment in United States

The current study is limited to an analysis of foreign/world language enrollments in the formal education system (K-16). Limits of time and resources have made it impossible to survey existing networks of heritage, community-based, afterschool and weekend-and summer school programs, which provide significant amounts of training and cultural education for languages such as Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese), Korean, and Russian. As reported by states, foreign language enrollments account for approximately 20% of the total school age population. The study also finds that a total of 11 states have foreign language graduation requirements; 16 states do not have foreign language graduation requirements; and 24 states have graduation requirements that may be fulfilled by a number of subjects—one of which is foreign languages.

American Councils for International Education (2017). The national K-12 foreign language enrollment survey report: A comprehensive study of foreign/world language enrollments across the formal U.S. education system, K-12. United States: The Language Flagship at the Defense Language and National Security Education Office.

https://www.americancouncils.org/sites/default/files/FLE-report-June17.pdf

Projections in Education

This report includes statistics on elementary and secondary schools and degree-granting institutions. Included are projections of enrollment, graduates, teachers, and expenditures to the year 2017. This is the first edition of the Projections of Education Statistics to include projections of new teacher hires in public and private elementary and secondary schools. In addition to projections at the national level, the report includes projections of public elementary and secondary school enrollment and public high school graduates to the year 2017 at the state level.

Between 2006 and 2018, continued increases are expected in the number of degrees awarded to women at all levels Between 2005 and 2018, the number of doctoral degrees is projected to increase 27 percent overall.

Hussar, W. J., & Bailey, T. M. (2008). Projections of education statistics to 2017.Washington, D.C.: National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, & U.S. Department of Education.