The motto of Western Kentucky University, is that it is a leading American university, with international reach.

Today, WKU officials held true to the saying by announcing the addition of a new pilot program at the school.

Called the Language Flagship, it is a federally-funded effort, that aims to increase the number of graduates who are fluent in one or more languages that are critical to U.S. competitiveness, and security.

The emphasis at WKU will be on Chinese fluency.

"This is a national program, this means that we join 8 other universities across the US in a highly elite, highly selective, and competitive program for undergraduates," says Amy Eckhardt who is the Adminstrative Director of the Kentucky Chinese Flagship pilot program.

The program at WKU is for undergraduate students who also participate in the honors program.

With today's announcement, WKU becomes the only university in Kentucky with a fully articulated four-year Chinese language program.