23, no. 3 (Spring 1992): 6-10

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Foreign Language Enrollments in United States Institutions of Higher Education, Fall 1990

Richard Brod and Bettina J. Huber

IN AUGUST 1991 the Modern Language Association completed work on its fall 1990 survey of foreign language registrations in United States institutions of higher education, the seventeenth in a series of surveys conducted since 1958 with the support of grants from the US Office of Education or its successor, the US Department of Education. Data for the survey were obtained from postcard questionnaires sent to the registrars of 2,796 two- and four-year institutions. All but 51 of these institutions replied, yielding a response rate of 98.2%. Among the respondents, 2,401, or 87.5%, reported registrations in at least one language other than English.

Results of the Fall 1990 Survey

The 1990 survey shows a total of 1,184,100 foreign language registrations, the highest enrollment ever recorded. Table 1 breaks down the results for the 12 most commonly taught languages and gives the aggregate figure for the 113 “other” languages for which enrollment data were reported. Also included, for comparison, are the corresponding totals from the 1986 survey, the percentage changes between 1986 and 1990, and the percentage share of the net growth in registrations during that period. The table reveals widely different trends for the various languages: enrollments declined in French, Ancient Greek, and Hebrew, but increased in all of the other languages listed —slightly in Arabic; moderately in Chinese, German, Italian, Latin, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish (from 12.5% to 31%); and dramatically in Japanese. Japanese rose from seventh to fifth place in the number of registrations, while Chinese moved from ninth to eighth.

The 6 leading languages—Spanish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Russian—account for 91.2% of the total registrations in foreign languages in the colleges and universities covered in the survey; the other 6 languages listed in table 1 make up an additional 7.3%, and the remaining 1.5% are distributed among 113 additional languages, ancient and modern.

Spanish, having superseded French in the top position in 1970, remains the most widely taught foreign language in the country's institutions of higher education, as it has been in secondary schools since 1948. Spanish now accounts for 45.1% of all registrations in foreign languages and 49.4% of the registrations in the 6 leading modern languages. In 1968, the registration in Spanish (364,870) represented 32.4% of the total for all foreign languages, whereas French had 34.4%.

Foreign Languages in Two-Year Colleges

Table 2 presents the data for fall 1990 broken down by level. The first column shows foreign language registrations in two-year colleges; under the heading of four-year institutions, the remaining columns show undergraduate registrations, graduate registrations, and totals. The 876 two-year colleges listed in the survey, 36.5% of all the institutions that reported language registrations in 1990, account for 36.2% of the net growth in registrations between 1986 and 1990. In 1960, 455 two-year colleges reported foreign language registrations; by 1972 the number had peaked at 899, declining to 835 in 1974. Since then the number has risen and fallen slightly from survey to survey. After increasing steadily since 1972, total language enrollments in two-year colleges fell somewhat between 1977 and 1980. From 1980 to 1986 they held steady, but they grew by 40.2% during the next four years, reaching a record high of 228,420. Spanish, with 133,823 enrollments, accounted for 58.6% of the two-year college total in the 1990. Of the 876 responding institutions in this category, 99, or 11%, are in California, where foreign language enrollments in two-year colleges number 87,198, or 38.2% of the national figure.

Trends in Language Registrations, 1960–90

The total registration for 1990 topped the 1986 figure by 18%. Before 1990, the peak enrollment year for foreign languages in higher education was 1968, when 1,127,363 registrations were reported. Between 1968 and 1980, the number fell by 21.9%; between 1980 and 1986, however, it rose by 8.5%. The 1990 total represents an increase of 5% over the 1968 high and of 30% over the low recorded in 1980.

After the decline of the 1970s, the 1980s brought an increase both in the national total language registrations and in the number of registrations per 100 college and university enrollments. As shown in table 3, that percentage reached a peak of 16.5 in 1965, declined to 7.3 in 1980, and showed a slight increase, to 7.8, in 1986. The percentage calculated for 1990 is 8.5.

Table 4 presents trends in registrations in the 12 most commonly taught languages between 1960 and 1990. In addition to listing numbers enrolled, the table shows the percentage of the total each number represents and the percentage growth for the periods 1960–80, 1980–90, and 1968–90. Because the MLA did not collect registration data on Latin and Ancient Greek before 1968, data on these languages are missing from the 1960 column.

Less Commonly Taught Languages

During the early 1960s the languages now designated “less commonly taught” were labeled “critical” or “strategic” by the MLA, the US Office of Education, and other agencies. The line between commonly and less commonly taught is arbitrary, and previous MLA survey reports drew it below the seventh language listed in descending order of registrations. Until the 1986 survey, the 7 most commonly taught languages in United States colleges and universities were Latin, Ancient Greek, and the 5 “leading” modern foreign languages—French, German, Italian, Russian, and Spanish. In 1986, however, Japanese became the seventh most commonly taught language, rising to the fifth position in 1990. To provide useful comparisons with past figures, table 2 presents data for the 12 most commonly taught languages, including all languages formerly and currently so designated.

Taken together, the less commonly taught languages—that is, all languages other than the 12 named in table 2—have experienced considerable growth in recent years. In 1968, the total enrollment in these languages was 8,111, compared with 13,618 in 1972, 13,576 in 1986, and 17,544 in 1990. Table 5 lists the 113 languages not identified in table 2 and provides enrollment data by type of institution (two-year or four-year). Of the 113 languages, 29 are indigenous to Europe, 29 to the Middle East or Africa, 37 to Asia or the Pacific, and 18 to North or South America.

Statistical Analyses

Table 6 presents mean foreign language registrations for the 12 most commonly taught languages in fall 1990, with a breakdown by institutional type. The table also shows the number of institutions of each type that had courses in the respective languages. In the 1990 survey, data were recorded for each institution in a special computer file coded to show the institution's student population, source of funding (i.e., public or private), category (doctorate-granting, comprehensive, baccalaureate, two-year, or specialized), and type of language program. Table 7 shows total and mean 1990 registrations, with breakdowns by specific institutional characteristics.

The full report on the fall 1990 survey of foreign language registrations will be submitted in 1992 to the US Department of Education and will be retrievable through the document files of the department's Education Resources Information Clearinghouse (ERIC). In addition, the MLA staff plans to conduct a number of studies of language enrollment trends over the 20-year period 1970–90; results of these studies will be reported later in the year.

The authors are Director of Special Projects and Director of Research for the Modern Language Association. Data were compiled by the project's research assistants, Karin Bagnall and Ange-Marie Hancock, with the assistance of Neil Balavram of the MLA Computer Center staff.

Table 1
Fall 1986 and Fall 1990 Foreign Language Registrations
in United States Institutions of Higher Education
Language	1986	1990	Change, %	Share of Net Growth, %
Arabic	3,417	3,475	1.7	0.1
Chinese	16,891	19,490	15.4	1.4
French	275,328	272,472	-1.0	-1.6
German	121,022	133,348	10.2	6.8
Ancient Greek	17,608	16,401	-6.9	-0.7
Hebrew	15,630	12,995 ^a	-16.9	-1.5
Italian	40,945	49,699	21.4	4.8
Japanese	23,454	45,717	94.9	12.3
Latin	25,038	28,178	12.5	1.7
Portuguese	5,071	6,211	22.5	0.6
Russian	33,961	44,626	31.4	5.9
Spanish	411,293	533,944	29.8	67.8
Other languages	13,576	17,544	29.2	2.2
Total	1,003,234	1,184,100	18.0	100.0
				(180,866)
^a This total comprises 5,724 registrations in Biblical Hebrew and 7,271 in Modern Hebrew.

Table 2
Fall 1990 Foreign Language Registrations by Level
Language	Two-Year Colleges	Four-Year Institutions
Language	Two-Year Colleges	Undergrad.	Graduate	Total
Arabic	423	2,687	365	3,052
Chinese	3,506	15,148	836	15,984
French	44,366	220,980	7,126	228,106
German	19,082	109,961	4,305	114,266
Ancient Greek	283	11,367	4,751	16,118
Hebrew	786	8,596	3,613	12,209
Italian	8,325	40,599	815	41,374
Japanese	10,308	34,522	887	35,409
Latin	909	26,311	958	27,269
Portuguese	365	5,516	330	5,846
Russian	3,472	39,468	1,686	41,154
Spanish	133,823	391,431	8,690	400,121
Other languages	2,772	13,506	1,266	14,772
Total	228,420	920,052	35,628	955,680

Table 3
Registrations in Modern Foreign Languages Compared with Enrollments in Higher Education, 1960–90
Year	Total US College Enrollment ^a	Index of Growth, % ^b	Total MFL Registration ^c	Index of Growth, %	MFL Registration per 100 College Enrollments
1960	3,789,000	100.0	608,749	100.0	16.1
1965	5,920,864	156.3	975,777	160.3	16.5
1968	7,513,091	198.3	1,073,097	176.3	14.3
1970	8,580,887	226.5	1,067,217	175.3	12.4
1972	9,214,860	243.2	963,930	158.3	10.5
1977	11,285,787	297.9	883,222	145.1	7.8
1980	12,096,895	319.3	877,691	144.2	7.3
1983	12,464,616	329.0	922,439	151.5	7.4
1986	12,247,055	323.2	960,588	157.8	7.8
1990	13,457,855	355.2	1,138,880	187.1	8.5
^a The source of the first-column figures is the Center for Education Statistics, US Department of Education. The totals are for the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The 1960 figure is an estimate and the 1989 total is used for 1990, since the figure for that year was not available at press time.
^b For index figures, 1960 = 100.0
^c Includes all languages listed in table 2 except Latin and Ancient Greek.

Table 4
Registrations in the Twelve Most Commonly Taught Languages, 1960–90
Language	1960	1968	1970	1980	1983	1986	1990	Percentage Change
Language	1960	1968	1970	1980	1983	1986	1990	1960–80	1980–90	1968–90
Arabic	541	1,100	1,333	3,466	3,436	3,417	3,475	540.7	0.3	215.9
Chinese	1,844	5,061	6,238	11,366	13,178	16,891	19,490	516.4	71.5	285.1
French	228,813	388,096	359,313	248,361	270,123	275,328	272,472	8.5	9.7	–29.8
German	146,116	216,263	202,569	126,910	128,154	121,022	133,348	–13.1	5.1	–38.3
Ancient Greek	—	19,285	16,697	22,111	19,350	17,608	16,401	—	–25.8	–15.0
Hebrew	3,834	10,169	16,567	19,429	18,199	15,630	12,995	406.8	–33.1	27.8
Italian	11,142	30,359	34,244	34,791	38,672	40,945	49,699	212.3	42.9	63.7
Japanese	1,746	4,324	6,620	11,506	16,127	23,454	45,717	559.0	297.3	975.3
Latin	—	34,981	27,591	25,035	24,224	25,038	28,178	—	12.6	–19.4
Portuguese	1,033	4,048	5,065	4,894	4,447	5,071	6,211	373.8	26.9	53.4
Russian	30,570	40,696	36,189	23,987	30,386	33,961	44,626	–21.5	86.0	9.7
Spanish	178,689	364,870	389,150	379,379	386,238	411,293	533,944	112.3	40.7	46.3
Total	—	1,119,252	1,101,576	911,235	952,534	989,658	1,166,556	—	28.0	4.2
Total ML	604,328	1,064,986	1,057,288	864,089	908,960	947,012	1,121,977	43.0	29.8	5.4

Table 5
Fall 1990 Course Registrations in 113 Less Commonly Taught Languages
Language	Two-Year Colleges	Four-Year Institutions	Total
Afrikaans	—	29	29
Akkadian	—	84	84
Albanian	—	3	3
American Sign	1,140	462	1,602
Amharic	—	2	2
Apache	20	—	20
Aramaic	16	316	332
Arapahoe	15	—	15
Armenian	85	170	255
Athabaskan	—	10	10
Bambara	—	30	30
Basque	—	10	10
Bengali	—	25	25
Berber	—	1	1
Blackfoot	34	—	34
Bulgarian	—	35	35
Burmese	—	2	2
Cambodian	—	6	6
Cantonese	—	83	83
Catalan	—	29	29
Chamorro	—	3	3
Cherokee	—	57	57
Chippewa	—	59	59
Choctaw	8	—	8
Coptic	—	6	6
Crow	21	—	21
Czech	—	230	230
Dakota-Lakota	36	123	159
Danish	—	304	304
Dutch	29	478	507
Egyptian	—	80	80
Middle-Egyptian	—	22	22
Estonian	—	2	2
Finnish	6	90	96
Fula	—	1	1
Georgian	—	7	7
Modern Greek	101	728	829
Haitian Creole	—	15	15
Hausa	—	132	132
Hawaiian	299	614	913
Hindi	1	305	306
Hindi-Urdu	—	125	125
Hittite	—	2	2
Hmong	—	13	13
Hungarian	8	107	115
Icelandic	—	4	4
Old Icelandic	—	44	44
Ilocano	—	72	72
Indonesia	—	222	222
Inupiaq	6	42	48
Iranian	—	141	141
Irish	—	58	58
Old Irish	—	63	63
Khmer	—	5	5
Korean	141	2,145	2,286
Kutenai	29	—	29
Lao	—	1	1
Lingala	—	16	16
Lithuanian	—	45	45
Malayalam	—	13	13
Manchu	—	4	4
Mandingo	—	1	1
Mongolian	—	103	103
Classical Mongolian	—	2	2
Nahuatl	—	12	12
Navajo	94	92	186
Nepali	—	21	21
Norwegian	29	816	845
Nyanja	—	11	11
Ojibwa	81	152	233
Pali	—	3	3
Papago	—	5	5
Persian	—	380	380
Pilipino	178	18	196
Polish	81	750	831
Punjabi	—	8	8
Quechua	—	45	45
Romani	—	8	8
Romanian	—	87	87
Salish	36	—	36
Samoan	11	58	69
Sanskrit	—	251	251
Serbo-Croatian	—	220	220
Shona	—	8	8
Sindhi	—	1	1
Sinhalese	—	1	1
Old Church Slavic	—	61	61
Slovak	—	52	52
Slovene	—	4	4
Sumerian	—	10	10
Swahili	—	1,209	1,209
Swedish	36	1,015	1,051
Tagalog	11	135	146
Tahitian	—	5	5
Tamil	—	35	35
Telugu	—	9	9
Thai	—	192	192
Tibetan	—	75	75
Turkic	—	15	15
Turkish	—	172	172
Ottoman Turkish	—	4	4
Ugaritic	—	32	32
Uighur	—	2	2
Ukrainian	—	69	69
Urdu	2	88	90
Uzbek	—	27	27
Vietnamese	169	158	327
Welsh	—	10	10
Wolof	—	45	45
Yiddish	3	344	347
Yoruba	—	134	134
Yupik	46	79	125
Zulu	—	63	63
Total	2,772	14,772	17,544

Table 6
Mean Fall 1990 Foreign Language Registrations in
United States Institutions of Higher Education
Language	Two-Year Colleges	Four-Year Institutions	All Institutions
Arabic	21.1	26.3	25.6
Arabic	(20)	(116)	(136)
Chinese	66.2	44.5	47.3
Chinese	(53)	(359)	(412)
French	70.1	189.6	148.4
French	(633)	(1,203)	(1,836)
German	51.7	115.8	98.3
German	(369)	(987)	(1,356)
Ancient Greek	14.9	25.3	25.0
Ancient Greek	(19)	(636)	(655)
Hebrew	32.8	34.7	34.6
Hebrew	(24)	(352)	(376)
Italian	66.1	99.2	91.5
Italian	(126)	(417)	(543)
Japanese	66.9	70.4	69.6
Japanese	(154)	(503)	(657)
Latin	22.7	52.8	50.7
Latin	(40)	(516)	(556)
Portuguese	30.4	43.3	42.3
Portuguese	(12)	(135)	(147)
Russian	29.2	81.0	71.2
Russian	(119)	(508)	(627)
Spanish	165.4	304.3	251.4
Spanish	(809)	(1,315)	(2,124)
Other	50.4	70.3	66.2
Other	(55)	(210)	(265)
Total	260.8	626.7	493.2
Total	(876)	(1,525)	(2,401)
Note: The figures in parentheses are the numbers of institutions with registrations in specified languages. They represent the base totals from which the mean figures were calculated.

Table 7
Total and Mean Fall 1990 Foreign Language
Registrations by Selected Institutional Characteristics
Characteristic	Total	Mean	Number of Institutions
All institutions	1,184,100	493.2	2,401
Source of funding
Public	834,663	658.8	1,267
Private	336,372	308.9	1,089
Size ^a
Very small	38,587	70.2	550
Small	92,045	180.5	510
Medium	153,921	264.5	582
Large	384,667	700.7	549
Very large	508,517	2,719.3	187
Type
Doctorate-granting	514,435	2,572.2	200
Comprehensive	303,734	528.2	575
Baccalaureate	121,645	227.8	534
Two-year college	228,420	260.8	876
Specialized	15,866	73.5	216
Geographic region
Northeast	271,681	502.2	541
South Atlantic	237,778	439.5	541
South Central	113,442	450.2	252
Midwest	263,638	417.1	632
Pacific or Rocky Mountain	297,561	684.0	435
Type of language program ^b
Division	96,319	177.7	542
Joint program	87,626	215.8	406
Multilingual program	565,444	620.7	911
Multiple language units	406,857	1,857.8	219
^a Size categories reflect the number of students enrolled: very small, 1,000 or fewer; small, 1,001–2,000; medium, 2,001–5,000; large, 5,001–15,000; very large, over 15,000.
^b Program types are defined as follows: division, foreign languages are part of a unit administering nonlanguage fields; joint program, English and foreign languages in the same unit; multilingual program, all foreign languages in one unit; multiple language units, languages or language groups administered separately.

ADFL Bulletin 23, no. 3 (Spring 1992): 6-10

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