Table 225.70.

Number and percentage of high school graduates who took foreign language courses in high school and average number of credits earned, by language and number of credits: 2000, 2005, and 2009

[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
Language and number of credits	2000						2005						2009
	Number of graduates (in thousands)		Percent of graduates		Average credits1		Number of graduates (in thousands)		Percent of graduates		Average credits1		Number of graduates (in thousands)			Percent of graduates			Average credits1
1	2		3		4		5		6		7		8			9			10
All foreign languages
Any credit	2,487	(33.8)	84.0	(0.92)	2.5	(0.03)	2,295	(51.1)	85.7	(0.49)	2.5	(0.02)	2,599		(52.7)	88.5		(0.45)	2.6	(0.02)
Spanish
Any credit	1,780	(31.9)	60.1	(0.90)	2.2	(0.03)	1,705	(42.2)	63.7	(0.66)	2.2	(0.02)	2,032		(45.0)	69.2		(0.70)	2.3	(0.02)
2 or more credits	1,369	(32.2)	46.2	(1.04)	2.6	(0.03)	1,344	(35.9)	50.2	(0.67)	2.6	(0.01)	1,638		(39.2)	55.8		(0.73)	2.6	(0.02)
3 or more credits	554	(26.3)	18.7	(0.90)	3.4	(0.03)	531	(20.1)	19.8	(0.57)	3.4	(0.01)	721		(30.2)	24.5		(0.78)	3.4	(0.02)
French
Any credit	528	(21.5)	17.8	(0.73)	2.3	(0.05)	414	(14.1)	15.5	(0.49)	2.3	(0.03)	411		(16.1)	14.0		(0.47)	2.4	(0.04)
2 or more credits	398	(17.8)	13.4	(0.61)	2.7	(0.04)	309	(11.1)	11.5	(0.38)	2.7	(0.03)	314		(14.1)	10.7		(0.42)	2.8	(0.03)
3 or more credits	190	(12.1)	6.4	(0.42)	3.5	(0.04)	143	(7.2)	5.4	(0.25)	3.5	(0.03)	167		(10.6)	5.7		(0.32)	3.5	(0.03)
German
Any credit	142	(17.2)	4.8	(0.57)	2.3	(0.08)	139	(10.0)	5.2	(0.36)	2.3	(0.04)	122		(8.6)	4.2		(0.29)	2.3	(0.06)
2 or more credits	104	(14.6)	3.5	(0.49)	2.8	(0.07)	102	(8.2)	3.8	(0.29)	2.8	(0.04)	91		(7.8)	3.1		(0.27)	2.8	(0.05)
3 or more credits	55	(8.6)	1.8	(0.29)	3.5	(0.06)	53	(4.7)	2.0	(0.17)	3.5	(0.04)	46		(5.3)	1.6		(0.18)	3.5	(0.03)
Latin
Any credit	120	(15.3)	4.0	(0.52)	2.1	(0.08)	106	(10.4)	4.0	(0.36)	2.1	(0.05)	108		(10.6)	3.7		(0.35)	2.2	(0.07)
Italian
Any credit	29	(5.5)	1.0	(0.19)	2.2	(0.20)	29	(5.3)	1.1	(0.20)	2.4	(0.16)	36		(7.0)	1.2		(0.23)	2.3	(0.18)
Japanese
Any credit	36	(7.3)	1.2	(0.25)	2.3	(0.15)	30	(4.4)	1.1	(0.16)	2.1	(0.12)	28		(4.3)	1.0		(0.15)	2.5	(0.12)
Chinese
Any credit	12	(3.1)	0.4	(0.10)	2.4	(0.20)	8	(2.1)	0.3	(0.08)	2.1	(0.23)	20		(4.1)	0.7		(0.14)	1.9	(0.13)
Arabic
Any credit	‡	(†)	‡	(†)	‡	(†)	‡	(†)	‡	(†)	‡	(†)	‡		(†)	‡		(†)	2.8	(0.36)
Russian
Any credit	10	(2.7)	0.3	(0.09)	1.9	(0.24)	5	(1.3)	0.2	(0.05)	1.5	(0.17)	3	!	(1.3)	0.1	!	(0.04)	2.4	(0.14)
Other foreign languages
Any credit	106	(12.0)	3.6	(0.40)	2.5	(0.17)	89	(5.9)	3.3	(0.23)	2.8	(0.10)	105		(10.6)	3.6		(0.37)	2.5	(0.18)
AP/IB/honors foreign languages
Any credit	183	(23.9)	6.2	(0.81)	1.2	(0.04)	157	(10.3)	5.9	(0.38)	1.2	(0.02)	233		(15.9)	7.9		(0.52)	1.2	(0.02)

†Not applicable.

!Interpret data with caution. The coefficient of variation (CV) for this estimate is between 30 and 50 percent.

‡Reporting standards not met. Either there are too few cases for a reliable estimate or the coefficient of variation (CV) is 50 percent or greater.

1 Average credits earned are shown only for those graduates who earned any credit in the specified language while in high school. For these students, however, credits earned include both courses taken in high school and courses taken prior to entering high school. Credits are shown in Carnegie units. The Carnegie unit is a standard unit of measurement that represents one credit for the completion of a 1-year course.

NOTE: For a transcript to be included in the analyses, it had to meet three requirements: (1) the graduate received either a standard or honors diploma, (2) the graduate’s transcript contained 16 or more Carnegie credits, and (3) the graduate’s transcript contained more than 0 Carnegie credits in English courses.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2000, 2005, and 2009 High School Transcript Study (HSTS). (This table was prepared April 2014.)