![]() |
2006 Tables and Figures | All Years of Tables and Figures | Most Recent Issue of the Digest |
![]() |
Download Excel ![]() |
Table 53. | Enrollment in foreign language courses compared with enrollment in grades 9 through 12 in public secondary schools: Selected years, fall 1948 through fall 2000 |
[Number in thousands] |
Language | Fall 1948 | Fall 1960 | Fall 1965 | Fall 1968 | Fall 1970 | Fall 1974 | Fall 1976 | Fall 1982 | Fall 1985 | Fall 1990 | Fall 1994 | Fall 2000 | Percent change in enrollment | ||
1976 to 1990 |
1990 to 2000 |
||||||||||||||
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | |
Total enrollment, grades 9 to 12 | 5,602 | 1 | 8,589 | 11,610 | 12,718 | 13,336 | 14,103 | 14,314 | 12,405 | 12,388 | 11,338 | 12,213 | 13,514 | -20.8 | 19.2 |
All foreign languages2 | |||||||||||||||
Number enrolled | 1,170 | 2,522 | 3,659 | 3,890 | 3,779 | 3,295 | 3,174 | 2,910 | 4,029 | 4,257 | 5,002 | 5,898 | 34.1 | 38.6 | |
Percent of all students | 20.9 | 29.4 | 31.5 | 30.6 | 28.3 | 23.3 | 22.2 | 23.3 | 32.2 | 37.5 | 41.0 | 43.6 | — | — | |
Modern foreign languages | |||||||||||||||
Number enrolled | 741 | 1,867 | 3,068 | 3,518 | 3,514 | 3,127 | 3,023 | 2,740 | 3,852 | 4,093 | 4,813 | 5,721 | 35.4 | 39.8 | |
Percent of all students | 13.2 | 21.7 | 26.4 | 27.7 | 26.4 | 22.1 | 21.1 | 21.9 | 31.1 | 36.1 | 39.4 | 42.3 | — | — | |
Spanish | |||||||||||||||
Number enrolled | 443 | 933 | 1,427 | 1,698 | 1,811 | 1,678 | 1,717 | 1,563 | 2,334 | 2,611 | 3,220 | 4,058 | 52.1 | 55.4 | |
Percent of all students | 7.9 | 10.9 | 12.3 | 13.4 | 13.6 | 11.9 | 12.0 | 12.5 | 18.8 | 23.0 | 26.4 | 30.0 | — | — | |
French | |||||||||||||||
Number enrolled | 254 | 744 | 1,251 | 1,328 | 1,231 | 978 | 888 | 858 | 1,134 | 1,089 | 1,106 | 1,075 | 22.6 | -1.3 | |
Percent of all students | 4.5 | 8.7 | 10.8 | 10.4 | 9.2 | 6.9 | 6.2 | 6.9 | 9.2 | 9.6 | 9.1 | 8.0 | — | — | |
German | |||||||||||||||
Number enrolled | 43 | 151 | 328 | 423 | 411 | 393 | 353 | 267 | 312 | 295 | 326 | 283 | -16.2 | -4.1 | |
Percent of all students | 0.8 | 1.8 | 2.8 | 3.3 | 3.1 | 2.8 | 2.5 | 2.1 | 2.5 | 2.6 | 2.7 | 2.1 | — | — | |
Russian | |||||||||||||||
Number enrolled | — | 10 | 27 | 24 | 20 | 15 | 11 | 6 | 6 | 16 | 16 | 11 | 46.6 | -35.6 | |
Percent of all students | — | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | # | # | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | — | — | |
Italian | |||||||||||||||
Number enrolled | — | 20 | 25 | 27 | 27 | 40 | 46 | 44 | 47 | 40 | 44 | 64 | -11.4 | 58.7 | |
Percent of all students | — | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.5 | — | — | |
Japanese3 | |||||||||||||||
Number enrolled | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 25 | 42 | 51 | — | 102.5 | |
Percent of all students | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.4 | — | — | |
Other modern foreign languages4 | |||||||||||||||
Number enrolled | 1 | 9 | 9 | 18 | 15 | 23 | 9 | 3 | 18 | 15 | 59 | 179 | 73.0 | 1,102.3 | |
Percent of all students | # | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.1 | # | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 1.3 | — | — | |
Latin | |||||||||||||||
Number enrolled | 429 | 655 | 591 | 372 | 265 | 167 | 150 | 170 | 177 | 164 | 189 | 177 | 8.9 | 8.3 | |
Percent of all students | 7.7 | 7.6 | 5.1 | 2.9 | 2.0 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 1.3 | — | — |
—Not available. # Rounds to zero. 1 Estimated. 2 Includes enrollment in ancient Greek (not shown separately). Fewer than 1,000 students were enrolled in this language in each of the years shown. 3 Until 1990, student enrollment in Japanese courses was included in the Other modern foreign languages category. 4 Includes students enrolled in unspecified modern foreign languages. Since 1990, enrollment in Japanese courses is reported as a separate category. NOTE: Percent change computed from unrounded numbers. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), "State Nonfiscal Survey of Public Elementary/Secondary Education," 1982 through 2000. American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, Foreign Language Enrollments in U.S. Public Secondary Schools, Fall 2000. (This table was prepared April 2002.) |