Whereas major research universities may accommodate programs of study in Arabic, Chinese, or Persian, regional universities and liberal arts colleges have struggled to adapt to a wider and more complex array of world languages and literatures in the 21st century. Many have been forced to choose between radically restructuring or closing programs…

Noting a 14.3 percent decline in student enrollment in college German-language programs between the fall terms of 1968 and 1970, an analysis of the situation is developed and proposals for reversing the trend are outlined. Six major sections discuss: (1) the sad evidence of figures and what they mean for German, (2) the foreign language crisis…