USRA (Universities Space Research Association) is a nonprofit corporation under the auspices of the National Academy of Sciences. Institutional membership has grown from 49 colleges and universities when USRA was founded thirty years ago, to 82 in 1999. All member institutions have graduate programs in space sciences or aerospace engineering. Besides 77 member institutions in the United States, there are two member institutions in Canada, one in England, and two in Israel. USRA provides a mechanism through which universities can cooperate effectively with one another, with the government, and with other organizations to further space science and technology, and to promote education in these areas. Most of USRA's activities are funded by grants and contracts from NASA.