Last spring, the author distributed a survey to majors and minors in Hispanic studies at Connecticut College and at other schools to informally gather student attitudes toward the nature of Hispanic-studies courses as it pertained to their interests and goals. Although results were somewhat predictable, an unexpected finding was that of 148 students who returned surveys, only 20 indicated a primary interest in literature. The overwhelming majority, 100 students, said their primary reason for taking upper-division Hispanic-studies courses was "to learn the Spanish language." In this article, the author contends that Hispanic-studies departments nationally are in need of comprehensive reform, advocating that increased Hispanic immigration and the rise of Spanish as an informal second language of the United States have significantly altered the nature of undergraduates who sign up for Spanish courses. He proposes reform of Hispanic studies departments that begins with overhaul of Spanish language instruction.