Very good post, thank you.
My son will be starting next year at an Ivy League school, double-majoring in classics and engineering. The engineering is to earn a living. The classics is to be well-educated.
In looking at classics programs at various schools in the United States, it was welcome relief to see that many programs (including the one in which he is enrolled) have not been too influenced by political correctness. Yes, there is the obligatory elective course in “woman in the classical period,” but mostly, it appears to be good stuff.
As you say, lots of folks don't want to have to learn two foreign languages to pursue a degree, so that acts to filter out a lot OWS-types from this field. My son's own classics teachers from high school included a retired Marine officer who is currently finishing his Ph.D., a Ph.D. in eastern Christian studies in the early Church, and a devout, orthodox Catholic.
With six years of Latin and four years of Greek, many of his college application packages included essays on Greek and Latin topics, and he submitted one essay to one school entirely in Latin. Every one of the schools that accepted him made special note of their appreciation of his interest and relative expertise in the field, and his intention to double-major.
What many folks may not realize is that a classics degree is considered a "classic" (pun intended) undergraduate degree for those who wish to go to graduate school, especially those who wish to obtain professional degrees (including in business, law and medicine), or advanced degrees in other fields.
sitetest
Will your son pick an ancient language to specilize in? My daughter chose ancient Greek - and loved it!
Good luck to him