STORRS, Conn. (AP) — The University of Connecticut will receive a grant of more than $1 million to help disadvantaged undergraduate students work toward their doctoral degrees.

The university announced that its Center for Academic Programs will receive $220,000 annually for five years under the U.S. Department of Education’s McNair Post-baccalaureate Achievement Program. It is named in honor of Ronald E. McNair, one of seven NASA astronauts who was killed in the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger in January 1986.

UConn says it plans to have its program in place by spring semester. It will serve 25 low-income, first-generation students for enrollment in doctoral programs in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.