What students want to be studying, having dropped Latin? (7)
I believe the answer is:
earning
'what students want to be' is the definition.
(students might want to be earning money)
'studying having dropped latin?' is the wordplay.
'studying' becomes 'learning' ('learn' can be a synonym of 'study').
'having dropped' is a deletion indicator.
'latin?' becomes 'l'.
'learning' with 'l' taken out is 'EARNING'.
(Other definitions for earning that I've seen before include "Realising" , "Receiving in return for work" , "Gaining by working" , "Gaining by work" , "Getting" .)