The space-grant colleges are institutions that are members of a network of 52 consortia formed for the purpose of outer space-related research. Each consortium is based in one of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, or Puerto Rico, and each consists of multiple independent space-grant institutions, with one of the institutions acting as the lead. The U.S. Congress established the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program in 1988. NASA administers the program, and first took that role in 1989.