Undergraduate Degrees in Languages Other than English, by Geographical Category or Subject Area, 1987–2014

Alongside the recent declines in college enrollments in languages other than English, the number of undergraduate degrees awarded to students studying languages other than English declined from 2010 to 2014. The number of students earning degrees in Spanish had the largest numerical growth from 1987 to its peak in 2010 (growing from 3,496 degrees to 9,357 over that timespan), but subsequently experienced the largest numerical loss (falling to 8,053 degrees in 2014). Over the longer term, the number of students earning degrees in other European languages has fallen by more than a third since the early 1990s. In comparison, the study of languages from Africa, Asia, and the Middle East has grown substantially since the early 1990s, and remains above or near the number of degrees conferred in 2010.