Brandman University in Irvine is planning to introduce a new curriculum aimed at helping Hispanic students who are not fluent in English.
The program will offer classes that begin in Spanish and introduce more English over time.
The initiative is backed by University Ventures Fund, a $100 million investment fund in New York.
Its two largest investors are Germany-based media company Bertelsmann AG and the University of Texas Investment Management Co., an investment corporation that oversees investments for the University of Texas and Texas A&M sys-tems.
“The fund has committed up to $15 million in investment,” Chancellor Gary Brahm said. “So we feel that we have more than adequate funding to launch a high-quality program.”
Brandman is introducing the classes this fall.
“We are now working on the finishing plans, and it will be a new college that’s a part of Brandman University,” Brahm said.
The college will offer undergraduate degrees in psychology, criminal justice and business administration.
The school is finalizing details about which campuses will first introduce the program.
Brandman has 25 campuses throughout California and five in Washington. It also offers online classes.
“We are an emerging Hispanic-serving institution,” the university’s spokesperson Rita Wilds said.
Hispanic students make up about 26% of the student body.
“The program will increase the language skills of participating students … so that when they graduate, they are not only subject matter experts, but will bring the value of being fluent in two languages to employers,” Wilds said.
Brandman was known as Chapman University College until it became a separate school within the Chapman University system in 2009.
The launch of Brandman’s dual-language program is one of University Ventures’ two initial projects.
The other investment went to create an online education initiative in Europe called Higher Education Online. The fund’s partnership with European universities is focused on making undergraduate and postgraduate degree programs available online.
The fund expects to eventually partner with higher-education institutions throughout the U.S. and in Europe to launch between six and 10 joint ventures.
