Western Kentucky University is expanding its degree offerings in international languages. The Board of Regents held its quarterly meeting today and approved majors and minors in Chinese and Arabic.
WKU Provost Dr. Gordon Emslie says many of the students who will graduate from the programs will help meet the increasing need for foreign language professionals.
"There's the obvious interpreter career, but more and more, the federal government is very interested in graduates who are fluent, conversationally fluent, in these other languages," explains Emslie.
According to the Modern Language Association, nationwide enrollment in Arabic has increased faster than any other language while Chinese is the second-fastest growing language.
The new programs at WKU will begin in the spring.
