Table 246.

Number and percentage distribution of course enrollments in languages other than English at postsecondary degree-granting institutions, by language and enrollment level: 2002, 2006, and 2009

Enrollment level and year	Total, all lan- guages	American Sign Language	Arabic	Chinese	French	German	Greek, Ancient1	Hebrew2	Italian	Japanese	Korean	Latin	Portuguese	Russian	Spanish	Other languages
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17
All levels
Number of enrollments
2002	1,397,253	60,781	10,584	34,153	201,979	91,100	20,376	22,802	63,899	52,238	5,211	29,841	8,385	23,921	746,267	25,716
2006	1,577,810	78,829	23,974	51,582	206,426	94,264	22,849	23,752	78,368	66,605	7,145	32,191	10,267	24,845	822,985	33,728
2009	1,682,627	91,763	35,083	60,976	216,419	96,349	20,695	22,052	80,752	73,434	8,511	32,606	11,371	26,883	864,986	40,747
Percent change in enroll-    ments, 2006 to 2009	6.6	16.4	46.3	18.2	4.8	2.2	-9.4	-7.2	3.0	10.3	19.1	1.3	10.8	8.2	5.1	20.8
Percentage distribution of
enrollments
2002	100.0	4.4	0.8	2.4	14.5	6.5	1.5	1.6	4.6	3.7	0.4	2.1	0.6	1.7	53.4	1.8
2006	100.0	5.0	1.5	3.3	13.1	6.0	1.4	1.5	5.0	4.2	0.5	2.0	0.7	1.6	52.2	2.1
2009	100.0	5.5	2.1	3.6	12.9	5.7	1.2	1.3	4.8	4.4	0.5	1.9	0.7	1.6	51.4	2.4
Undergraduate level
Number of enrollments
2002	1,360,538	60,660	10,053	33,219	197,374	88,297	14,343	17,251	62,852	51,308	5,100	28,796	7,898	23,151	736,317	23,919
20063	1,536,840	78,083	23,034	50,455	201,663	91,192	16,426	17,474	77,350	65,746	6,908	31,170	9,809	24,096	812,120	31,314
2009	1,644,390	90,937	34,301	59,967	212,178	93,749	15,858	16,606	79,977	72,717	8,163	31,582	10,933	26,287	852,781	38,354
Introductory courses4	1,370,250	83,450	29,650	47,676	172,573	76,317	12,812	11,202	72,403	59,892	6,010	27,273	8,112	19,850	711,032	31,998
Advanced courses4	274,140	7,487	4,651	12,291	39,605	17,432	3,046	5,404	7,574	12,825	2,153	4,309	2,821	6,437	141,749	6,356
Percent change in enroll-
ments, 2006 to 2009	7.0	16.5	48.9	18.9	5.2	2.8	-3.5	-5.0	3.4	10.6	18.2	1.3	11.5	9.1	5.0	22.5
Percentage distribution of    enrollments
2002	100.0	4.5	0.7	2.4	14.5	6.5	1.1	1.3	4.6	3.8	0.4	2.1	0.6	1.7	54.1	1.8
2006	100.0	5.1	1.5	3.3	13.1	5.9	1.1	1.1	5.0	4.3	0.4	2.0	0.6	1.6	52.8	2.0
2009	100.0	5.5	2.1	3.6	12.9	5.7	1.0	1.0	4.9	4.4	0.5	1.9	0.7	1.6	51.9	2.3
Graduate level
Number of enrollments
2002	36,715	121	531	934	4,605	2,803	6,033	5,551	1,047	930	111	1,045	487	770	9,950	1,797
20063	40,970	746	940	1,127	4,763	3,072	6,423	6,278	1,018	859	237	1,021	458	749	10,865	2,414
2009	38,237	826	782	1,009	4,241	2,600	4,837	5,446	775	717	348	1,024	438	596	12,205	2,393
Percent change in enroll-    ments, 2006 to 2009	-6.7	10.7	-16.8	-10.5	-11.0	-15.4	-24.7	-13.3	-23.9	-16.5	46.8	0.3	-4.4	-20.4	12.3	-0.9
Percentage distribution of    enrollments
2002	100.0	0.3	1.4	2.5	12.5	7.6	16.4	15.1	2.9	2.5	0.3	2.8	1.3	2.1	27.1	4.9
2006	100.0	1.8	2.3	2.8	11.6	7.5	15.7	15.3	2.5	2.1	0.6	2.5	1.1	1.8	26.5	5.9
2009	100.0	2.2	2.0	2.6	11.1	6.8	12.7	14.2	2.0	1.9	0.9	2.7	1.1	1.6	31.9	6.3

1 The apparent drop in Ancient Greek from 2006 to 2009 may be attributed to changes in reporting. Some premodern Greek language categories, such as Koine Greek and Old Testament Greek, were reported for the first time in 2009. In previous surveys, these languages may have been reported under the category "Ancient Greek."

2 Includes only “Modern Hebrew” and “Biblical Hebrew”; other reported categories of Hebrew courses are excluded.

3 In 2006, a few 2-year institutions reported a total of 226 graduate course enrollments (86 in Spanish and 140 in American Sign Language). In this table, these 226 enrollments are shown as undergraduate enrollments; these enrollments are not included under graduate enrollments.

4 Introductory courses are first- and second-year courses. Advanced courses are third- and fourth-year courses.

NOTE: This table shows course enrollments, not the number of students studying a given language. A single student majoring in a language may be enrolled in more than one class in that language. Unless otherwise indicated, totals for specific languages do not include classical, religious, or regional dialects. Degree-granting institutions grant associate’s or higher degrees and participate in Title IV federal financial aid programs.

SOURCE: The Modern Language Association of America, MLA historical enrollment data, 2002-09, retrieved July 21, 2011, from http://www.mla.org/about_search_flsurvey. (This table was prepared July 2011.)