The goal of this paper was to address the question, "Have the austerity measures enacted due to the global economic crisis impacted student enrollments at the University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez?" as Rodríguez (2011. "Social protest and the future of Higher Education in Puerto Rico." "Academe" 97(4). http://www.aaup.org/article/social-protest-and-future-higher-education-puerto-rico#.U81ofj6gmpo (accessed 7 Dec 2011)) suggests. The costs, matriculation rates, and English language requirements of the University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez and two nearby private universities were compared. The findings demonstrate that during the economic crisis matriculation rates of the poorest students at the University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez decreased significantly, as Rodríguez suggested they would. However, the facts lead the current author to adduce that "money" does not appear to be the only factor causing decreasing enrollments. The data reviewed leads the author to suggest that English is functioning as a barrier to public higher education in Puerto Rico and that this may be a contributing factor in the falling matriculation rate over the period of the economic crisis.