The Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program, one of 11 TRIO programs at Wichita State University, has received full funding for the next five years.

The McNair Scholars Program serves 28 first-generation, low-income and underrepresented college students who have a desire to pursue graduate studies, with the goal of attaining a doctoral degree. The program has served over 300 students in the 22 years since its inception, and 89 percent of those participating in the program have completed a bachelor’s degree.

Students participating in the program are empowered through unique opportunities such as summer research internships, seminars, high-impact activities designed as preparation for doctoral study and exposure to cultural events not usually available to disadvantaged students. About 45 percent of students have continued their education to complete a master’s degree, and 12 percent have completed doctoral level studies.

“It’s such an honor to work with such bright students,” says LaWanda Holt-Fields, program director of The McNair Scholars Program. “Their dreams become a reality.”

The McNair Scholars Program was founded in October 1995. It’s named in honor of deceased NASA astronaut and Challenger space shuttle crewmember Ronald E. McNair.

The mission of Wichita State University is to be an essential educational, cultural and economic driver for Kansas and the greater public good. Wichita State is a doctoral research university enrolling nearly 15,000 students and offering 59 undergraduate degree programs in more than 150 areas of study in seven undergraduate colleges. The Graduate School offers 45 master’s and 12 doctoral degrees that offer study in more than 100 areas. Wichita State’s Innovation Campus is an interconnected community of partnership buildings, laboratories and mixed-use areas where students, faculty, staff, entrepreneurs and businesses have access to the university’s vast resources and technology. For more information, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/wichitastate and Facebook at www.facebook.com/wichita.state.
 

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