We examined the relationship between ethnic identity (EI), family ethnic socialization (FES), heritage language ability (HLA), and desire to learn a heritage language (HLD) in a sample of 91 U.S. psychology graduate students. We had four main findings. First, HLD had a significant positive relation with EI (24.9%). Second, FES had a significant positive relation with EI (33.8%). Above and beyond FES, HLD uniquely accounted for 10.9% of the variance of EI. Third, HLA had a significant positive relation with EI (12.3%). Above and beyond HLA, HLD uniquely accounted for 12.7% of the variance of EI. Accounting for the contribution of HLD decreased the beta associated with HLA; a finding that suggests HLD may mediate the relation between HLA and EI. Fourth, the combined contribution of FES and HLA accounted for approximately 36.3% of the variance of EI. HLD had a significant positive relation to ethnic identity after the other the factors in this study were considered, in combination, and uniquely explained 9.0% of the variance of EI. Our results highlight the importance of considering internal factors, such as desire to learn a heritage language, when examining ethnic identity. Implications for practice and recommendations for future research are discussed.