The study of Hebrew in US colleges and universities has scored a dramatic increase in recent years despite a declining interest in foreign languages generally, Dr. David Rudavsky, professor emeritus of Hebrew Culture and Education at New York University, has reported. He told a recent meeting of the National Association of Professors of Hebrew that 255 institutions of higher learning offered classes in classical and modern Hebrew in 1970. He predicted that the growing demand for modern Hebrew will undoubtedly lead to the introduction and expansion of such courses in more universities and colleges in the future, although financial support remains a critical problem. Dr. Rudavsky estimated that of the 17,000 college students currently enrolled in Hebrew language studies, about 20 percent are non-Jewish.
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