Enrollment Challenges for University Language Classes in the Twenty-First Century: Strategies, Case Studies, and Considerations for Adapting to Changing Circumstances

Challenges and ContextsAs detailed in a report from the MLA, enrollments in non-English-language classes at colleges and universities decreased nationwide by more than nine percent between fall 2013 and fall 2016 (Looney and Lusin).Although some language departments saw growth during that time, the overall downward trend has caused administrators and instructors to seek possible causal explanations for-as well as solutions to-the observed enrollment problems.The MLA enrollment censuses are conducted and reported on every three to four years, meaning that it will soon be time for us to analyze and respond to data collected in 2021.Regardless of what the next survey indicates, a constantly proactive stance will continue to be necessary for language programs (and indeed for the humanities in general) to maintain respect, funding, and support within a STEM-oriented society.The four authors of this essay are colleagues at Purdue University, a public landgrant research university with a STEM focus.We have all held various administrative leadership positions within the School of Languages and Cultures, which consists of fifteen language programs of varying sizes.We acknowledge fully that institutional context and culture are key in determining which strategies will work best for increasing enrollments.At the same time, many of the methods we present here could be, with appropriate tweaks, reasonably transferable to other postsecondary educational contexts.We are grateful for the inspiration and insights we have gleaned from our colleagues at other types of institutions (for example, from conversations at ADE and ADFL seminars) and from articles-also from academics in other fields of study-published in venues such as Inside Higher Ed and The Chronicle of Higher Education.1When we began brainstorming for this article, we were still living in the prepandemic era.In the meantime, COVID-19 has shaken higher education to its core, resulting in widespread budget cuts, layoffs, and furloughs at colleges and universities across the country (Hubler).In addition, at the time of this writing, we are all witnessing, and many are participating in, the largest civil rights revolution in this country since the 1960s.These social factors may affect not only our enrollment numbers-that is, on how many students decide to learn languages-but also how, why, and where students learn languages.Currently, most study abroad programs are on hold because of restrictions on international travel, and, given the sudden