Foreign-Language Enrollments Drop After Years of Increases

Enrollments in foreign-language courses at American colleges have declined after nearly 20 years of growth, falling 6.7 percent from the fall of 2009 to the fall of 2013, according to a report released on Wednesday by the Modern Language Association.

Rosemary G. Feal, the association’s executive director, speculated that several factors could have played a role in the decline, including rising student interest in career-oriented subjects such as business in the wake of the recession. Those studies leave less time for language classes, Ms. Feal said.

http://chronicle.com/article/Foreign-Language-Enrollments/189913/?cid=gn...