Latitudes: Is West Virginia U.’s plan to cut world languages another blow for international education?

Foreign-language faculty are seeking new ways to demonstrate the relevancy of what they teach. ADVERTISEMENT [Latitudes Logo]( You can also [read this newsletter on the web](. Or, if you no longer want to receive this newsletter, [unsubscribe](. Cuts spark fresh jitters for international ed West Virginia University’s plan to eliminate its department of world languages, literatures, and linguistics is raising concerns about the [future of foreign-language instruction]( — and sparking fresh jitters about whether international education remains a priority for American higher education. Administrators at the state’s largest public university, known as WVU, have proposed doing away with 32 of the campus’s 338 majors, including all world languages, to shore up a [structural budget deficit]( that they said could balloon to $75 million. Language instruction could be delivered via an online application or outsourced to another college under the plan. “World languages and international education are interconnected,” said Gilles Bousquet, a former vice provost for globalization at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and a former interim chancellor of the system’s Eau Claire campus. “Not only are foreign languages a critical part of the academic mission, certainly at a flagship, but they’re key for preparing our students to interact with the rest of the world. For me, it’s really a strategic mistake.” The events at WVU are the latest in a [troubling constellation of data points for international education]( An [American Council on Education survey]( released last year found that less than half of respondents said internationalization was included in their institution’s mission statement or strategic plan, a decline from previous surveys, and a smaller share reported that their global engagement was expanding. Although it remains the most-popular destination for international students, the United States has lost ground to competitor countries. Even before the pandemic, the share of American students studying abroad was essentially stagnant. Geopolitical tensions, especially with China, have threatened to [chill research and other global academic partnerships](. “Absolutely, it’s part of a broader trend,” Philip G. Altbach, founding director of the Center for International Higher Education at Boston College, said of the WVU decision. He pointed to two other recent developments: the [closure]( of a prominent nonprofit organization that promotes higher education in Latin America and the Caribbean that will shut down after Harvard University revoked its affiliate status, and the American Council on Education’s decision to end its internationalization lab, which has helped more than 150 colleges over two decades to craft international-education strategies. “These are difficult times in our sphere of the world,” Altbach said. Still, some observers argued that the WVU cuts should be viewed in isolation, rather than in the context of international education. Ryan Allen, an assistant professor of comparative and international education and leadership at Soka University of America, said he questioned whether the decision was “much connected to an international-ed retreat. I think language education has been more and more relegated, mainly for cost cutting.” And West Virginia is hardly the first college to move to discontinue foreign-language programs, although its plan is far-more sweeping than most. During a three-year period, 2013 to 2016, more than 650 language programs were [cut]( across American higher ed, according to the Modern Language Association. More recently, the group [found]( that total enrollments in foreign-language study dropped 15 percent between 2016 and 2020, the single-largest drop since it began conducting a census in 1958. (The 2020 picture, however, may have been worsened by overall enrollment declines caused by the pandemic; the association plans to release updated figures later this year.) As justification for its plan, WVU noted that the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded annually across all areas of foreign languages, literatures, and linguistics decreased 25 percent nationally over the past decade, as of 2021. University officials also pointed to a number of prominent colleges that have eliminated foreign-language requirements. WVU is considering whether to also do away with its requirement for its arts and sciences students. NEWSLETTER [Sign Up for the Teaching Newsletter]( Find insights to improve teaching and learning across your campus. Delivered on Thursdays. To read this newsletter as soon as it sends, [sign up]( to receive it in your email inbox. The case for relevancy Of the roughly 2,000 WVU students enrolled this semester in the beginning and intermediate language courses that count toward the arts-and-sciences requirement, only about half are taking a class to meet such a requirement, according to the preliminary results of a survey conducted by the world-languages department. That could suggest more-widespread interest in language study. In a [self study]( the department reported that many of its students are double majors, adding a foreign language to another academic program. The university did not include second majors as part of its calculations. Bousquet, who is a professor of French, said this is typical for many students who come to college with interest in a particular field and find that learning a language can deepen their understanding of their chosen discipline or make them more attractive in the job market. In 2015, Wisconsin created a certificate, or minor, in French to serve such students. There are now about 115 French minors, many pursuing degrees in areas like public health or international development, Bousquet said. Purdue University offers courses, or sections of courses, that have a special focus on the vocabulary needed for particular disciplines. Professors have taught “language for a specific purpose” courses in fields such as engineering, business, and medicine, said Jen William, a professor of German and head of the university’s school of languages and cultures. William and her colleagues have worked to make it easier for students to fit language study into their schedules, especially those in science and engineering, who often have highly regimented courses of study. One way has been to develop special study-abroad programs, which marry academic coursework, intensive language study, and hands-on experience in their fields. “We’ve built [strong partnerships]( especially with engineering, William said. Forging such connections across a university can help make the case for relevancy. At the University of Kansas, the department of East Asian languages and cultures has worked with the study-abroad office to create a program to send 10 Korean-language students to teach English in South Korea each summer, while alumni groups support scholarships for such study. At Kansas, where much of the interest in Korean-language study is driven by an interest in culture, such as K-pop, enrollments in Korean classes have nearly doubled over the past decade. The University of Oklahoma’s department of modern languages, literature, and linguistics has revised its curriculum to include more cultural-studies courses that meet student interest, most recently in Chinese and Italian. At Wisconsin, Bousquet teaches a popular course on Médecins Sans Frontières, or Doctors Without Borders, the international-aid group, that counts as an elective for its global-health program as well as for French and humanities majors. Only about a quarter of the students in the course, which is taught in English, typically have a French-language background, Bousquet estimated, but each term several go on to take French or study abroad in a Francophone country. But are such efforts enough to stave off cuts to foreign-language programs? West Virginia’s foreign-language faculty members also sought to innovate and strike partnerships, offering language courses geared for students in engineering and medicine, moving more classes online even before the pandemic, and winning a national grant to create programming to send [first-generation and other underrepresented students abroad](. They even tried to establish a dual-degree program between German and engineering, but it was derailed by bureaucratic complications, said Amy Thompson, the chair of the world-languages department. “In the end,” Thompson said of the proposed cuts, which the department is appealing, “what I’m really worried about is how they will affect our students.” FROM THE CHRONICLE STORE [The Accessible Campus - The Chronicle Store]( [The Accessible Campus]( Despite years of legislation meant to open up higher education to people with disabilities, colleges are still a long way from achieving equity. [Order your copy]( to examine how colleges are working to be more accessible and the challenges that remain. Around the globe International-education groups met with officials from the U.S. Department of State about high rates of [student-visa denials for applicants from Africa]( and other parts of the global South and are collecting examples of [irregularities in visa processing](. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security will grant emergency-employment authorization to students affected by the unrest in [Sudan]( to allow them to work more hours and take fewer courses than is typically permitted under visa rules. The special waiver will be in effect until April 2025. The department will also extend emergency-employment authorization for [Ukrainian students]( affected by the war in their home country, also through April 2025. Expedited one-month processing for international students seeking approval to work doesn’t include wait times to receive employment-authorization forms, which could take an additional one or two weeks, homeland-security officials [clarified]( in an alert to students and colleges. A federal district judge declined to block a [Florida law]( that would ban most Chinese citizens, including professors and students, from buying houses in the state. American colleges took the top spots in the latest [Shanghai Ranking]( but the country’s overall dominance of the ranking of universities around the world has been [slipping](. Universities in Libya’s capital, Tripoli, were forced to close amid [armed clashes](. Afghan universities are ready to [readmit women]( higher-education officials said, but are waiting for ruling Taliban authorities to lift their ban on female students. South Korea will offer more scholarships and make it easier for foreign graduate students in high-tech fields to get permanent residency as part of a [five-year plan]( to attract 300,000 international students. Higher-education regulators in Australia announced they were [scrutinizing]( the recruitment of international students for possible noncompliance and unethical behavior. The inquiry was [praised]( by some university leaders who have been concerned about the behavior of recruitment agents and other educational providers. Centennial College in Toronto has said it will enroll international students left scrambling when a neighboring institution [abruptly revoked]( offers of admission. Thanks for reading. I always welcome your feedback and ideas for future reporting, so drop me a line at karin.fischer@chronicle.com. You can also connect with me on [Twitter]( or [LinkedIn](. If you like this newsletter, please share it with colleagues and friends. 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