The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have launched a $1 billion program to fund scholarships for 1,000 minority high school students each year for the next 20 years, the New York Times reports.

The Gates Millennium Scholarships program is intended to boost the number of minority students majoring in scientific and technical programs nationwide. The program will be open to all ethnic minorities, but is generally aimed at black, Latino and American Indian youth, the Times reports.

The program's first year will offer scholarships to sophomore, junior and senior college students. After that, the scholarships will be available for high school seniors with a 3.3 grade point average and are nominated by a teacher or principal. Applicants will be required to write an essay on their life goals and must also commit themselves to some sort of community service.

Those selected will get money for tuition, room and board and other living expenses from the time they start college until graduation. The Gates program also will provide money for master's and Ph.D. studies.

The $1 billion scholarship will come from foundation assets that already have reached $17 billion. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation -- created this year through the consolidation of the William H. Gates Foundation, the Gates Learning Foundation and the Gates Center for Technology Access -- also has promised $200 million worldwide to develop vaccines for a number of diseases.

The foundation and Microsoft Corp. also have provided a large amount of money, expertise and equipment to help bring technology to low-income areas of the U.S.

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