A U.S. university will begin teaching classes in both Korean and English from later this month to enable Korean students with limited English skills to earn a degree.

Fairleigh Dickinson University, the largest private university in New Jersey, will offer a three-year liberal arts associate degree with classes taught in the two languages, according to the Star-Ledger on Sunday (Jan. 13). Called "miraero," which means "to the future" in Korean, the program is an effort by the university to reach out to the growing Korean population in the state, the daily said.

An estimated 86,000 Koreans live in New Jersey, giving the state the third-largest Korean population in the U.S.

The program targets international students who come to study in the U.S. It is designed to enable students to gradually make the transition from bilingual Korean and English classes to all-English classes.

"We felt that rather than having all the ESL (English as Second Language) classes before being able to take credit courses, that individuals would be able to see a light at the end of the tunnel by taking credit courses at the same time," Kenneth Vehrkens, a dean at the university, told the daily.

Twenty-three students have enrolled in miraero so far.

The 60-credit Korean program, which was made accessible to working adults and immigrants through evening, weekend and online classes, costs $1,233 per three-credit course, about half the cost of regular tuition, according to the university.