EMPORIA, Kan. (AP) — The counselor education department at Emporia State University has received a nearly $1 million grant to increase training for human services paraprofessionals.

The university said in a news release that the five-year U.S. Department of Education Grant will be used to provide online master’s degree curriculum to address a critical shortage of qualified counseling personnel in rural Kansas and Nebraska.

Twenty people from rural Kansas and Nebraska can apply for a 48-credit hour rehabilitation counseling course. After completing the program the rehabilitation counselors will be placed across the central U.S.

Selected applicants will receive tuition and related support for their studies.