More Georgia students are now studying foreign languages. Two years ago, 17 percent of public high school students were enrolled in language classes. Last year that number jumped to nearly a quarter of all high school students studying global languages.

Jon Valentine, who heads the state education department’s international education programs, says the jump in numbers of students enrolled in language classes was a surprise because the state abandoned its foreign language graduation requirement two years ago when it switched to a single diploma program.

When the state dropped the requirement, many worried that fewer students would enroll. But so far the numbers show those fears were unfounded.

Valentine says that part of the increase can be traced to Georgia's public universities, which now require two years foreign language study for admittance. But he also says high schools are starting to promote language study to a broader range of students.

"The change from two diplomas to one diploma has actually allowed us to refocus the study of world languages away from say those students who are going to college and say the study of a foreign language is for every student," Valentine says.

For example, Valentine says many of the state’s career and technical education programs now recommend that students study global languages as a way to get an edge in their field. He says the growth of global languages is being driven by demographic and especially economic changes.

"Georgia’s a really interesting case study because of our economy," Valentine says. "Where we have these sort of specific languages like Turkish or Arabic or Korean -- we have those programs in areas where they make sense for the population. Maybe there's a Kia plant. Or maybe there's a population that's moved into the area where the study of that language makes sense."

The number of languages being offered in Georgia's schools is also on the rise. The state has traditionally focused on Spanish, French, Latin and German, but schools in Georgia now offer a total of 16 foreign languages.