The U.S. job market increasingly seeks culturally responsive, multilingual employees a goal poorly aligned with U.S. higher education policies. This paper reviews recent K-16 enrollment in foreign language courses, with a focus on higher education. The individual and societal case for foreign language immersion throughout the educational pipeline in the will be detailed and compared to efforts abroad. Current policies and practice pitfalls as well as potential solutions will be discussed, including a shift from a language-literature approach to a proficiency approach fostered by context-rich dual degree programs. These recommendations aim to shape educational policies to encourage foreign language proficiency with an overall goal of creating agile, highly sought graduates who thrive in a continuously more competitive job market. [For the complete proceedings, see ED597786.]