The promoters of a plan to set up a university campus at Charleville Castle near Tullamore are confident its first students will arrive in the Midlands in September.
The promoters, a group called Quest Campus, signed a memorandum of understanding with a senior academic from Empire State College at the State University of New York (SUNY), Dr Thomas M. Rocco, earlier this month.
The professor, who is dean of educational development at SUNY, had in-depth discussions with Mr Dudley Stewart, dean of international affairs of the Quest Campus project.
Quest is hoping to benefit from the US government's policy which encourages American students to spend part of their studies overseas but the campus will also be available to Irish students.
The memorandum of understanding signed with SUNY gives Quest the go-ahead to develop programmes for both undergraduates and graduates at the Tullamore campus.
Dr Rocco said SUNY is involved in placing students on an international programme in Switzerland and has close links with colleges in Israel and Cyprus. He said there were 340,000 students at SUNY and the Empire State College, which is part of the university, and it concentrated on upgrading workforce skills.
Mr Stewart envisaged the courses here will be taught through a combination of distance learning, using video links and lectures. He said staff from the US would be placed at Quest on a part-time basis and there was a possibility that full-time staff could be located at Tullamore later.
Mr Stewart said he expected about 15 to 20 American students this autumn, studying business, information technology, languages and science. Teaching will also take place at other locations around the county, including business centres, hotels and other workplaces. He added that there were many elements of Irish society which could be linked into the courses, including literature, archaeology, music and other projects.
Mr Stewart said the development has moved from "a wishy-washy stage to a practical proposition" which will benefit the community. A number of local families have expressed a willingness to host American students in their homes.