WESTBROOK – Husson University, which has purchased a building at 340 County Road in Westbrook, will be open for classes in January 2014.

“We felt the County Road site provided access the students need and the opportunity to expand and grow our program,” Robert Clark, school president, said Wednesday.

Husson’s southern Maine campus is now located at 220 Maine Mall Road in South Portland, but the newly purchased building, which will be renovated starting this fall, includes more parking for students and more space to expand. The main campus of the private school, which offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in programs such as accounting, business, environmental science, health-care studies and nursing, is in Bangor.

The Westbrook campus will also offer more internship opportunities for the students.

“There are opportunities through this site to expand our professional education. We might see this as a professional development opportunity for area businesses to do their professional training on site.” said Clark. “We certainly encourage businesses that have an interest in the area to contact us because we are always interested in exploring new ways to reach out and meet the needs of our students.”

Lynne Coy-Ogan, Husson provost, said the school already offers a number of internship opportunities, including tuition incentives to partner with businesses and on-site programming.

In addition to offering business classes, the new Westbrook campus will offer MBA programs in hospitality and sports management and graduate programs for counseling, nursing and education.

Many who attend Husson University are non-traditional students who work full or part time and need a flexible class schedule. Classes in Westbrook will be held in the afternoon and evening and on the weekends.

City Administrator Jerre Bryant said on Friday that the school was originally looking at purchasing the City Hall building, at 2 York St., but, because of time constraints on when the school wanted to open and when the city staff needed to be out of the building, it did not work out.

“They are the first college or university located in Westbrook. I’m pleased to see what they might bring to the community,” Bryant said.

School Committee member Ed Symbol was also pleased the campus was moving to Westbrook.

“It’s a huge opportunity for the city. Kudos for them. It’s a great spot near the gate of the city. It will make a huge impression on people coming into Westbrook,” Symbol said Wednesday.

Students will continue to attend the South Portland campus through this year’s fall semester.

Since zoning does not permit schools in that area, the City Council has scheduled a first reading on an ordinance change to allow educational facilities. A public hearing will be held on July 1.