How do Universities deal with applicants from high schools that don't offer other languages After reading my local paper - there was an article stating more funding cuts for some local public high schools in the district that I live in. There have been budget cuts almost every year for the past decade (ish). 

At first they got rid of a lot of art and music related courses as well as Latin. The schools only currently offer 2 languages (Spanish and French, not that it matters) but now the budget cuts are likely going to force the schools to eliminate the extra languages too so that they don't removed required courses like science and English. 

This got me thinking, not only for the area in which I live, but all over the US. How do Universities go about evaluating students that don't have any formal second language courses from their high school not because of choice but because of not having an opportunity?

I know that second language learning in the US has been declining, but my local Universities either require 1 year of a second language or strongly recommend 2 years of a second language. 

Do Universities look into the high schools of applicants to conclude "Both these students have similar grades but student A went to a high school that offered languages and didn't take one, whereas student B went to a high school that didn't offer languages". 

Is there any hope for students with their opportunities being defunded to compete with other applicants from better-funded high schools? Are students from underfunded schools SOL?
Is there any hope for students with their opportunities being defunded to compete with other applicants from better-funded high schools? Are students from underfunded schools SOL?


As a preface I will say that HS foreign language programs are much more forgiving than college or university programs, not just from an objective difficulty standpoint, but also because learning foreign languages is much easier at younger ages. 

Being said, unfortunately many institutions have an application process in place that can potentially disqualify a student automatically on the basis of missing credentials (not bad, missing). But, I cannot speak for every institution.

There are ways students can get around this, but they have to be proactive, @guifa put good options in the comments:

1) You dual-enroll in HS. I actually recommend this, because I did not dual-enroll and when I started taking college courses, I realized that they would have been a much better use of my time, personally.

2) Take a distance learning course. This is somewhat difficult due to technology/off-campus requirements, especially when we're talking areas where the schools can't afford their programs, but should be doable.

3) Go to a junior/community college for 2 years, transfer. You can take the foreign language at either institution sometimes, you mostly need it done ahead of time to transfer, but if not to get your degree you have to have at least 2 years done, 4 years for some Arts degrees. The big disadvantage here is some universities have big experiences like research or internships that junior/community colleges wont be able to afford you, so upon transfer you have to work harder for undergrad. experience and LoRs.

In all the above cases, before you do anything you make sure your credits are official and you make sure they transfer. I've seen plenty of cases where students take courses at community colleges with wonky accreditation to find out much, much later that the course in question needs to be retaken at the new institution because it didn't transfer. You can confirm this by talking first to your institution, and then to where you plan on transferring, and get in writing that the courses are going to be okay.