California State University received a $4.6 million grant to implement practices and programs that support degree completion among science, technology, engineering and mathematics students within the next decade, The Central Valley Business Times reported.

The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust generous donation to the country's largest public university systems will be used to increase the number of students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields, and fund the system's STEM Collaboratives, which work with new students from the summer before fall classes start through their first year of college, The Central Valley Business Times reported.

"Support from the Helmsley Charitable Trust is vital to the CSU's development of high-touch programs that will expand the diversity and scope of the STEM workforce pipeline," Ephraim P. Smith, the University's Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer, said in a statement. "Actively engaging first-generation STEM majors is the first step in creating professionals who solve the complex problems of today and transform the communities of tomorrow."

From April 2014 to February 2017, the grant will help at least eight CSU campuses integrate and scale up intensive summer-through-first-year-programs. The university hopes to actively engage students in STEM through hands-on projects that are particularly effective among STEM majors from underrepresented backgrounds, eligible for federal financial aid or the first in their families to attend college.

STEM Collaboratives will incorporate instruction, advising and activities that stimulate students' commitment, determination and perseverance during the summer and the student's first year, according to a press release. Students will also have the opportunity to participate in civic engagement, service learning, learning communities and undergraduate research.

"It is critical for the global competitiveness of the United States and for the futures of individual students that we work together to support efforts to ensure that a more diverse set of students attains degrees in the STEM disciplines," Ryan Kelsey, Program Officer of the Helmsley Charitable Trust's Education Program, said in a statement.