Boston University has been awarded $1.25 million to distribute in scholarships for local high school graduates pursuing degrees in science and technology.

The grant money, from the United States Department of Education, will benefit 50 students from Brighton, Charlestown and Chelsea high schools as part of the Upward Bound Math-Science program, which aims to boost declining numbers of students earning degrees in the field.

Science, technology, engineering and math degrees dropped from 32 percent of all degrees awarded in the 1994-95 academic year to 27 percent nine years later, according to a Government Accountability Office report that attributed the drop to “poor high school preparation.”

The grant, which is scheduled to go into effect in January, intends to help low-income and first-generation college-bound high school students.

“We received 275 applications this year,” Education Department spokeswoman Jane Glickman said in an email. “We funded 126 [universities] for Math-Science Upward Bound projects.”

Because the BU program proposal scored in the top 10 percent with reviewers, Glickman said it was one of 24 schools given a five-year grant, as opposed to the other 102, which were only given the standard four.

Students enrolled in the program will still participate in high school classes, but they will also be tutored in academic fields, test preparation and college counseling at BU.

On Saturdays, students will perform science projects taught by BU professors and graduate students, said Upward Bound proposal co-principle investigator Ruth Shane, who also directs the BU/Boston Public Schools Collaborative Office in the School of Education.