Oregon State University plans to eliminate its Italian program and scale back its offerings in other foreign languages and in English, the Associated Press reported.

In response to a projected $250,000 budget deficit in the department of foreign languages and literatures, the university has decided to cut its two first-year courses in Italian for the fall semester, and phase out all Italian-language offerings by the fall of 2009.

The university will also scale back its introductory Spanish offerings from 12 courses to seven, increase class sizes across the department, and eliminate about 20 class sections per term. The cuts may also affect the English department, which plans to chop four entry-level classes in the fall.

Protesting students carried a coffin around the campus last week in a mock funeral for the Italian program, which was added to Oregon State’s curriculum in 2001.

The reduction in foreign-language offerings has been an issue lately at other universities. The University of California at Berkeley recently announced significant cuts in its Asian-languages programs, and in April the University of Southern California decided to close its German department. Some scholars have interpreted the cuts as signs that foreign languages — and by extension, a liberal-arts education — are under threat. —Paula Wasley