1984: Latin in the United States Twenty Years After the Fall

Abstract

ABSTRACT After a precipitous decade‐long decline during the late 1960s and the early 1970s, interest and enrollments in secondary school Latin language and literature courses have been steadily rising across the nation since 1976. A disturbing consequence of this otherwise felicitous trend has been the development of a serious shortage of qualified Latin teachers in most areas of the country over the past five to ten years. This study examines trends in both high school and college enrollments, as well as such other indicators of interest in the language as student and professional organization memberships and College Board Achievement Test and Advanced Placement exam participation rates. The seriousness of the teacher shortage is underscored and some measures for alleviating the problem are briefly suggested.