The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is launching one of the country's only online Jewish Studies curriculum — and the first at a public university — expanding the school's remote education footprint and tapping into a niche international market for students.

The idea behind the new major and minor is to help students around the world access courses in Jewish heritage and history, and in Hebrew — a language that has seen dwindling college student enrollment over the years.

"One of the issues facing small programs like Jewish Studies is that if there's not enough local interest, it's very difficult for programs to continue to have those classes," said Rachel Baum, the deputy director of UWM's Sam & Helen Stahl Center for Jewish Studies.

"That's why there's been a decrease around the country of people's ability to study Hebrew and, by extension, other courses in Jewish studies, because of the enrollment pressures."

The number of students taking modern Hebrew or biblical Hebrew at U.S. universities dropped 17.6% and 23.9%, respectively, from 2013 to 2016, according to a census of students by the Modern Language Association.

Of the about 1.4 million students enrolled in language courses across the country in 2016, only 9,587 were taking biblical Hebrew and 5,521 were studying modern Hebrew, the report found.

The online Jewish studies major will include course offerings on the Holocaust, Jewish history, literature, film and politics, and the foundations of Judaism. The program requires 10 courses, and students could graduate in as little as two years. Students in the online program can also study abroad in Israel through the university.

"I think (the Jewish studies program) is really well suited to the online format," Laura Pedrick, executive director of UWM Online, said. "It takes advantage of being able to reach students throughout the nation and the world."

UWM boasts the highest number of online students on any college or university in the state, thanks in part to 40 fully online degrees and certificates. The university also offers general education requirements online, so students could earn their whole degree without needing to be on campus, Pedrick said.

The Jewish studies department is also piloting a fee structure that would allow students to pay about the same as in-state tuition for the major or minor, regardless of where they're based.

Supplemented with the online Hebrew language offerings, UWM's lecturers also hope to reach non-traditional students who are looking to learn a new language or otherwise boost their resume, Baum said.

Yael Ben-Yitschak, a senior lecturer in foreign language and literature, brings expertise as a national leader in developing online Hebrew curriculum.

"There are very few Hebrew teachers nationally who have the expertise and passion to develop a fully-online program from scratch and we are fortunate to have one living right here in Milwaukee," Baum said of Ben-Yitschak.

The Jewish Studies program at UWM has a history dating back to 1960, when then-Israeli Foreign Minister Golda Meir visited campus. Meir grew up in Milwaukee and attended Milwaukee Normal School — which eventually became UWM. She became the first female prime minister of Israel in 1969.

Contact Devi Shastri at 414-224-2193 or DAShastri@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @DeviShastri.