UTRGV was one of 19 colleges and universities from across the country that was awarded a grant from NASA to expand their STEM program.

A UTRGV professor said the $1.2 million grant will be used over the course of three years to strengthen resources and curriculums in the university’s STEM program.

UTRGV environmental sciences assistant professor Tian Dong said the university hopes the grant will get more of the Hispanic population in the STEM field, as they are often underrepresented in the stem workforce.

“This is especially true for students coming from the Rio Grande Valley, which are first generation college students coming from low income backgrounds,” Dong said.

Some of the money will go to new equipment, cutting edge research and even paid internships to NASA centers across the country.