24, no. 3 (Spring 1993): 29-35 To the Editor Search

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WHAT ARE the policies and attitudes of college admissions officials toward applicants who have studied classical languages? Teachers of ancient Greek and especially Latin (because it is so much more widely taught) have become increasingly concerned with this question in recent years, as foreign language (FL) study in general has been rehabilitated nationally and Latin and the classics in particular have enjoyed a renaissance of interest and enrollment in American schools. This article reports the results of a survey, funded by the American Classical League (ACL) and conducted during 1990–91, which assessed attitudes toward high school FL study, in particular the study of Latin and Greek, in the college admissions process.

Background

Classical Languages and College Requirements

In the early years of American education, the classics were sine qua non for college-bound students; Greek and Latin were at the heart of the curricula of colleges and college-preparatory schools for more than two and a half centuries—in fact, from the founding of the Boston Latin School in 1635 and of Harvard College the following year until the late 1800s. But as arguments for the modern languages and other more “practical” subjects became increasingly vocal, Greek and Latin requirements were gradually eliminated (Reinhold). By the 1930s and 1940s, most American colleges had dropped the entrance requirement, and, largely as a consequence, the study of Greek and Latin was declining in the schools; Greek enrollments plummeted, and Latin enrollments fell from over 50% of the public secondary schools (PSS) population at the turn of the century to only 16% in 1934 and less than 8% in 1948 (except as indicated, high school enrollment data cited in this paper are from Draper, table 1).

But Americans have long had a love-hate relation with language study generally, and their affection for modern as well as classical languages has fluctuated dramatically during this century. Between 1915 and 1955, the percentage of public high schoolers taking modern languages decreased from nearly 36% to less than 14% (Parker 53). The, with interest spurred on by the Sputnik scare, among other factors, the figure for modern languages rose each year between 1958 and 1968, from 16.4% to 27.7%, during the same period in which Latin continued its seemingly ineluctable decline from 7.8% to 2.9%. Next came the years of “relevance” and the “cafeteria-line curriculum” of the 1960s and 1970s; by 1976 modern languages had fallen again to 21.7%, and Latin, seemingly close to extinction, had dropped to a record low of 1.1%, with only 150,000 PSS youngsters studying the language out of a total population, grade 9–12, of nearly 14 million (see table 1).

Varying college admissions requirements, not surprisingly, have continued to serve as both cause and effect of the ebb and flow of language enrollments. As interest and enrollments in classical and modern language courses declined in United States schools and colleges during the late 1960s and 1970s, the percentage of BA-granting institutions that required high school FL study for admission was also dropping, from 33.6% in 1965–66 to 27.4% in 1970–71 and to 18.6% in 1974–75 (see table 2), according to surveys conducted periodically by MLA (see Brod and Lapointe, who also report a decline during this same ten-year period from 88.9% to 53.2% in the number of institutions requiring FL study for graduation with the BA degree).

Deploring this circumstance specifically, and more generally condemning “Americans' incompetence in foreign language” as “scandalous,” President Carter's Commission on Foreign Language and International Studies in 1979 recommended a variety of measures aimed at strengthening FL proficiency and international cultural awareness in America's schools and colleges (US Commission 5,7). In the wake of this and the countless subsequent education reports that stressed the importance of second language competence, growing numbers of colleges and universities have instituted or reinstituted FL admissions and graduation requirements over the past decade (see Huber). In the MLA's survey for 1982–83, 14.1% of the baccalaureate institutions responding indicated that they had FL entrance requirements (Brod and Lovitt), and by 1987–88 the percentage had risen to 25.8% (Brod and Lapointe); institutions reporting FL graduation requirements for the BA degree also increased during this five-year period, from 47.4% to 58.1% (Brod and Lapointe 17; cf. Lewis and Farris 16, tables A-2, 2,8).

The Renaissance of Latin

Since the Carter report and continuing into the 1990s, FL enrollments overall have been rising steadily (Brod; Brod and Huber; Dandonoli; Draper). At the same time, prospects for the classical languages, Latin in particular, have brightened considerably, a consequence not just of the renewed interest in languages generally but also of important new developments in the discipline of classics (Burns and O'Connor; La Fleur, Teaching , “Latin”; Phinney, “Scene”). In the colleges, while Greek enrollments have continued to drop (from nearly 26,000 in 1977 to 16,414 in 1990), Latin has been on the upswing for the past decade, rising more than 16% between 1983 and 1990 to over 28,000 (table 1; see also Brod and Huber); improved textbooks, computer resources, and other classroom materials have been developed and are gradually being adopted (LaFleur, “Latin”; Phinney, “Classics”). In the lower and middle grades, FLES and FLEX programs are being revived, and Latin and classical humanities are being taught with innovative materials to growing numbers of students; the ACL's recently organized Elementary Teachers of Classics is publishing a new journal, Prima , and has instituted the National Mythology Exam, which was administered for the first time in 1990 to more than 3,200 youngsters in grades 4 to 6 (Abbott; Davis).

The turnaround has been particularly remarkable in the high schools, where improved and livelier texts and a wealth of new classroom resources are also being used by increasing numbers of teachers (Davis, LaFleur, Teaching ). After declining nearly 80% between 1962 and 1976 (from 702,000, or 7.1% of the total PSS enrollment, to 150,000, or 1.1%), Latin enrollments in grades 9 to 12 climbed steadily to approximately 177,000 (1.4%) in 1985 (table 1). Though in the latest ACTFL survey the actual enrollment figure for 1990 was down, Latin as a percentage of total PSS enrollment was up again, to 1.5% (the highest level since 1970; see LaFleur, “Enrollments”), and there have been continuing increases from 1978 to 1992 in the number of students taking the National Latin Exam (from 9,000 to 77,000) and the College Board's Latin Advanced Placement Exam (from 880 to 3,150) as well as in National Junior Classical League memberships (from 29,000 to 53,000).

The ACL Survey

General Purposes

In view of all these developments, it might be expected that the classical languages would be regarded at least as favorably by colleges now as they were in the fall of 1979, when the ACL's National Coordinating Office for the Promotion of Latin in the Schools (NCOPLS) conducted a survey of college FL entrance requirements. The ACL survey gave special attention to the acceptability of Latin and Greek (Barthelmess), and the survey results indicated that “an overwhelming majority of responding institutions which require or recommend high school language study for admission do not prefer a modern over a classical language or vice versa ” (3).

Several factors, however, have suggested the need for a fresh examination of the issue, First, there were limitations in the design and administration of the NCOPLS survey. Only 405 institutions from MLA's far more extensive mailing list were sent the questionnaire, and the basis for the selection was not indicated in the published report; although the response rate (67%) was very good, a more complete and representative sampling would have been preferable, especially for identifying institutions with entrance requirements specifically excluding Greek or Latin. Second, the “trend in colleges to reconsider the matter of foreign language requirements,” which seemed only “apparent” in 1979 (Barthelmess 1), has now been realized; significantly more colleges have FL requirements today than in the late 1970s, and it is possible, especially since economic and political considerations more germane to the modern languages have been among the most powerful arguments for the restoration of language study, that attitudes and policies toward the classical languages have changed. Finally, with interest and enrollments in Latin rising over the past fifteen years and with language requirements exerting a growing influence on the college preparatory curriculum, there have been reports—only occasional but nonetheless worrisome—from teachers, counselors, parents, and others than in some colleges Latin and Greek do not satisfy entrance requirements.

Thus, while Barthelmess was surely right to draw from his survey “the general rule … that colleges and universities accept all languages on equal basis for admission purposes” (3) and while it seems obvious, on the basis of anecdotal evidence, that this rule still largely obtains, it is equally apparent that the profession will benefit from having a more complete and up-to-date picture of the policies and attitudes of college admissions officials regarding the classical languages. The survey whose results are reported here was designed to collect those data and to draw some general conclusions from them.

Survey Design and Procedures

The design of the questionnaire and other survey procedures were finalized after consultation with ACL, the University of Georgia (UGA) Office of Admissions, the MLA's survey staff, and the UGA Survey Research Center (SRC). Initial and follow-up mailing, including the questionnaire and a self-addressed return envelope, were sent in the fall of 1990 to the admissions directors of all 1,572 four-year colleges and universities on the comprehensive list maintained and employed by the MLA for its own periodic surveys of admission and graduation requirements. The list, which included institutions in the United State, Puerto Rico (17 institutions), and the Virgin Islands (1 institution), had been slightly expanded by MLA from the version used for its 1987–88 survey. Two-year institutions were not included, since the 1987–88 MLA survey had shown that only 3.3% of the 1,010 respondents in that category had FL entrance requirements (Brod and Lapointe 18).

Completed questionnaires continued to be received through January 1991. At the close of the survey, a total of 1,089 questionnaires had been returned, a response rate of 69.3%. Because anecdotal reports had indicated that some of the United States military academies might be among those institutions not accepting Latin or Greek, the two academies whose replies had not been received by that date (West Point and the Air Force Academy) were surveyed by telephone, thus increasing the total number of responses to 1,091 and the response rate to 69.4%. For a variety of reasons, primarily budgetary, no other nonrespondents were contacted by telephone. Although the final response rate was excellent for a mail survey, the data reported below would doubtless have varied somewhat had there been responses from 100% of the colleges and universities surveyed.

For their assistance in the design and implementation of this project, thanks are due to the ACL Executive Committee, especially the past president Ed Phinney and the incumbent president, Harry Rutledge; Richard Brod, Terry Callahan, Bettina, Huber, and other MLA staffers; SRC Director Dorothy Kingery; UGA Admissions Director Claire Swann; our classics department's senior secretary, JoAnn Pulliam; our editorial assistant, Mary Ricks; and my graduate research assistant, Erika Thorgerson.

Survey Results and Discussion

Responses to each of the survey's thirteen items are tabulated below, along with representative comments from the respondents and a brief discussion specific to each item.

1. Does your institution require previous foreign language study for admission to its BA or other undergraduate programs?

Comments: A considerable number of institutions answering no commented that FL, though not required, was “strongly recommended.” A few indicated that FL entrance requirements had been approved for implementation within the next few years.

Discussion: 30.5% of the respondents reported that their institutions required FL study for admission; this appears to indicate a continuing upward trend in FL admissions requirements in comparison with the 25.8% figure in MLA's survey for 1987–88 (Brod and Lapointe) and 14.1% in the 1982–83 survey (Brod and lovitt; table 2). Note, however, that response rates to the MLA surveys were significantly higher (98.3% for the 1987–88 survey), as a result of telephone follow-up.

2. If your answered yes to question 1, skip to question 4. If you answered no to question 1, is such a requirement currently under consideration?

Comments: Two Mississippi institutions reported that two units of FL would soon be required for graduation from high school in the state.

Discussion: That 12.5% of the 663 respondents answered yes suggests the potential for continuing growth in the number of four-year colleges requiring FL for admission.

3. If your answered no to question 1, how would your admissions committee evaluate an applicant who, in addition to meeting your minimum requirements for admission, has studied either Latin or Greek (classical or biblical) for at least two years in high school?

Comments: Several institutions remarked that grades (in the Latin and Greek courses) would be a factor. Of the five United States military and merchant marine academies, none required FL for entrance, but four (all but the Coast Guard Academy) indicated that FL is recommended, and four replied “somewhat stronger” to this item.

Discussion: Of the 711 institutions with no FL admissions requirements that responded to this item, 435 (61.2%) indicated that they regard applicants who present two years of Latin or Greek, in addition to meeting other admissions requirements, as either “much stronger” or “somewhat stronger.” Only three (all of them institutions with an open admissions policy) regard students with Latin or Greek as “somewhat weaker.”

4. Within the past ten years, has the foreign language admissions requirements been:

Comments: Several institutions without FL entrance requirements indicated that they recommend FL more strenuously now than they did ten years ago.

Discussion: These data correlate with other reports of the trend toward increased FL admissions requirements over the past decade: only 22 (2.2%) of the 1,023 respondents had dropped or lowered their requirements during the period, while 172 (16.8%) had either added or raised requirements.

(Note: Items 5–13 were to be answered only by those respondents who answered yes to item, 1 that is, those 333 institutions indicating that they had FL entrance requirements. In some instances, however, more than 333 responded to these items, especially institutions whose comments indicated that FL, though not required, was recommended; an example is Columbia University in New York, which does not absolutely require FL for admission but generally expects three to four years).

5. If you answered yes to question 1, what is the requirement?

Comments: Four public universities in Maryland indicated that one year of FL would be required for freshmen entering fall 1991, two for freshmen entering fall 1992. Some institutions, like Mary Washington College, require three years of the same language or two years each of two different languages. Princeton and Wellesley strongly recommend four years of the same language; Bryn Mawr encourages three years of one language and two of a second.

Discussion: Most institutions reported that their requirement was for two years of the same language.

6. Are specific languages required?

Discussion: The vast majority of respondents do not require specific languages to satisfy their FL entrance requirements; see discussion, item 7.

7. If you answered yes to 6, what specific language(s) is/are required? (Circle all that apply.)

Discussion: Georgetown University circled French, German, Spanish, and “modern languages only”; however, Georgetown requires FL only for admission to its Language and Foreign Service Schools, hence the modern language requirement (the respondent indicated that Latin is “sometimes” accepted for the requirement, but Greek is “usually not”). Northwestern College, Wisconsin, requires two years of high school German and three years of high school Latin. LeMoyne-Owen College circled French and Spanish only. Elms College circled “modern languages only.” Though not among the four institutions responding yes to item 6, Xavier University, Cincinnati, did report a requirement of three to four years of high school Latin and/or classics for admission to its forty-year-old Honors AB degree program, which provides a “high-powered classical education” and requires eight courses in both Latin and Greek for graduation.

8. Is Latin accepted toward fulfilling the requirement? If no, state reason.

Comments: Of the five institutions not accepting Latin, four commented that only modern languages were accepted; one remarked that Latin is “not part of the new core curriculum.”

Discussion: All five institutions not accepting Latin are small colleges with fewer than 1,200 students, and most appear to be “selective” but not “competitive,” according to the College Board's College Handbook (17; like “selective,” as opposed to “open admissions,” institutions, “competitive” colleges “have explicit admissions requirements, but more applicants meet those requirements that they are willing or able to accommodate”).

9. Is Greek (classical or biblical, not modern) accepted toward fulfilling the requirement? If no, state reason.

Comments: Of the eleven not accepting Greek, four indicated that only modern languages were accepted; one remarked that Greek was “not part of the new core curriculum”; one remarked that Greek was not acceptable because it was not offered at the college and students are expected to continue study of the language begun in high school; one does not accept Greek but requires Latin; one institution replied “sometimes,” and another replied “not sure.”

Discussion: The eleven institutions not accepting Greek (3.2% of the respondence to this question, 1% of the 1,091 respondents to the entire survey) include all five of those also not accepting Latin. These are nearly all small private colleges with enrollments ranging from about 200 to 2,500; most appear to be selective but not competitive; according to the College Handbook.

10. If you answered no to either 8 or 9, how would your admissions committee evaluate a student who, in addition to meeting your other admissions requirements (including the modern language requirement), had studied Latin or Greek for at least two years in high school?

Discussion: Of the eleven different respondents who indicated that Latin and/or Greek were not accepted for the FL entrance requirement, five (45.5%) reported nonetheless that applicants who had Latin or Greek in addition to a modern language would be regarded as “much stronger” or “somewhat stronger.”

11. If both classical and modern languages are accepted toward fulfilling the admissions requirement, how would your admissions committee evaluate a student who had studied Latin or Greek rather than a modern language, all else being equal?

Discussion: Of the 339 respondents, 64 (18.8%) indicated that students with Latin or Greek are regarded as “much stronger” or “somewhat stronger” than those applying with modern languages; more (266, 78.5%) regard the students as equivalent.

12. which of the following, if any, do you require or encourage (check one) for foreign language placement/ exemption/assessment? (Circle all that apply.)

Discussion: This item is ancillary to the primary purposes of the survey, but readers may find the data of interest. Significant numbers of respondents either require or encourage the College Board's Advanced Placement Exam or Achievement Test or a locally designed test. Most institutions indicated that students had more than one option for placement only and another (especially the AP) for credit.

13. Please add any comments you wish on the issue of classical languages and college admissions.

Comments: Most of the eighty-one respondents to this item commented positively on FL requirements generally, both for entrance and for graduation; remarks regarding Latin and Greek specifically were quite favorable. Following are a few representative responses: “80 out of 110 of our freshmen have typically taken Latin in high school; the Admissions Committee views classical languages and modern languages equally and encourages students to take as many years of a foreign language as are available to them at their high school” (Univ. of the South); “We applaud the encouragement of classical language study at any level” (Bucknell Univ.); “Classical language study would probably be a positive factor in consideration for scholarship awards” (Univ. of Arkansas. Fayetteville); “Although JHU does not have a language requirement, we strongly recommend that a student take a language (Greek and Latin are very attractive to the Admissions Committee); however, a student with three of four years of a language is more attractive than only one or two years” (Johns Hopkins Univ.); “Classical languages might affect our decision, because of the fact that a student would be taking a stronger high school program” (U.S. Merchant Marine Acad.); “Technically we would not say that the study of Latin or Greek strengthens a student's application, but we like to see it” (Brown Univ.); “I think that many admissions officers are impressed by programs which include the three subjects that invariably require daily homework and the mastery of a body of knowledge…math, science, and foreign language” (Massachusetts Inst. of Tech.).

Summary

The survey suggests a continuing upward trend in FL entrance requirements for United States colleges and universities, as well as a highly positive attitude toward applicants who have studied foreign languages, both modern and classical. Institutions that do not require FL for admission regard applicants who have studied Latin or Greek in high school as equivalent to (38.4%) or stronger than (61.2%) other qualified applicants; institutions that do require FL for admission and that accept both modern and classical languages toward satisfying the requirement regard applicants with Latin or Greek as equivalent to (78.5%) or stronger than (18.8%) applicants with modern languages. Only five institutions reporting FL entrance requirements do not accept Latin, and only eleven (including the five not accepting Latin) do not accept Greek; nearly all of these eleven institutions appear to be “selective” but not “competitive” colleges with 2,500 or fewer students.

Survey Highlights

• 30.5% of the responding institutions (333 of 1,091 four-year colleges and universities) require high school foreign language study for admission, compared with 25.8% in the MLA survey for 1987–88, and many other strongly recommend such study.
• 12.5% of those institutions not currently requiring FL for admission are considering the implementation of such requirements.
• Most (61.2%) of the institutions reporting no FL entrance requirement regard applicants with two years of high school Greek or Latin as either “somewhat stronger” or “much stronger” than other qualified applicants.
• 16.8% of the respondents reported adding or increasing FL entrance requirements over the past ten years; only 2.2% had dropped or lowered requirements.
• Most (68.3%) of the institutions reporting FL entrance requirements require at least two years of the same language; another 10.1% require three years of FL study for admission.
• Very few (1.1%) of the institutions requiring FL for admission report that specific languages are required.
• Nearly all (98.6%) of the institutions reporting FL entrance requirements accept Latin to meet those requirements (only five responding institutions do not, all of them colleges with fewer than 1,200 students and most of them “selective” but not “competitive,” according to College Board definitions).
• Nearly all (96.8%) of the institutions reporting FL entrance requirements accept Greek to meet those requirements (only eleven do not, most of them small, noncompetitive colleges).
• 18.8% of the institutions reporting FL entrance requirements that could be satisfied by either modern or classical languages regard applicants with classical languages as “somewhat stronger” or “much stronger” than applicants with modern languages; 78.5% regard the two categories as “equivalent”; and only .3% (one college) regards applicants with classical languages as “somewhat weaker.”

The author is Professor and Head of Classics at the University of Georgia and a past President of the American Classical League. A fuller version of this study was published in the Classical Outlook 68 (1991): 124–32.

Works Cited

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Barthelmess, James A. “College and University Foreign Language Entrance Requirements.” Prospects 2 (1980): 1–4; 3 (1980); 4–6

Brod, Richard I. “Foreign Language Enrollments in US Institutions of Higher Education—Fall 1986.” ADFL Bulletin 19.2 (1988): 39–44. [Show Article]

Brod, Richard, and Bettina Huber. “Foreign Language Enrollments in United States Institutions of Higher Education, Fall 1990.” ADFL Bulletin 23.3 (1992): 6–10. [Show Article]

Brod, Richard, and Monique Lapointe. “The MLA Survey of Foreign Language Entrance and Degree Requirements, 1987–88.” ADFL Bulletin 20.2 (1989): 17–41. [Show Article]

Brod, Richard, and Carl L. Lovitt. “The MLA Survey of Foreign Language Entrance and Degree Requirements, 1982–83.” ADFL Bulletin 15.3 (1984): 40–43. [Show Article]

Burns, Mary Ann T., and Joseph F. O'Connor. The Classics in American Schools. Atlanta: Scholars, 1987.

College Board. The College Handbook: 1991. New York: College Entrance Examination Board, 1990.

Dandonoli, Patricia. “Report on Foreign Language Enrollment in Public Secondary Schools.” Foreign Language Annuals 20 (1987): 457–70.

Davis, Sally. Latin in American Schools. Atlanta: Scholars, 1991.

Draper, Jamie B. Foreign Language Enrollments in Public Secondary Schools, Fall 1989 and Fall 1990. Yonkers: ACTFL, 1991.

Huber, Bettina J. “Characteristics of Foreign Language Requirements at US Colleges and Universities: Findings from the MLA's 1987–89

Survey of Foreign Language Programs.” ADFL Bulletin 24.1 (1992): 8–16. [Show Article]

LaFleur, Richard A. “Classical Language Enrollments in the Colleges and Schools.” Classical Outlook 69 (1992): 120–21.

———. “Latin and Classics in the College Curriculum: Something New under the Sun.” Teaching Languages in College: Curriculum and Content. Ed. Wilga Rivers. Lincolnwood: National Textbook, 1992. 157–97.

———, ed. The Teaching of Latin in American Schools: A Profession in Crisis. Atlanta: Scholars, 1987.

Lewis, Laurie, and Elizabeth Farris. Undergraduate General Education and Humanities Requirements. Higher Education Surveys Report 7. Washington: Higher Education Surveys, 1989.

Parker, William R. The National Interest and Foreign Languages. Washington: UNESCO, 1957.

Phinney, Ed. “The Classics in American Education.” Classics: A Discipline and Profession in Crisis? Ed. Phyllis Culham and Lowell Edmunds. Lanham: UP of America, 1989. 77–87.

———. “The Current Classical Scene in America.” JACT Review 2nd ser.2 (1987): 2–7 Rpt.in Classical Outlook 66 (1989): 119–25.

Reinhold, Meyer. Classical Americana: The Greek and Roman Heritage in the United States. Detroit: Wayne State UP, 1984.

United States Commission on Foreign Language and International Studies. Strength through Wisdom: A Critique of U.S. Capability. Washington: USGPO, 1979.

© 1993 by the Association of Departments of Foreign Languages. All Rights Reserved.

ADFL Bulletin 24, no. 3 (Spring 1993): 29-35

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