Interested in earning a doctorate?
This TRiO McNair Program prepares undergraduates to be successful in PhD and other research-intensive doctoral programs. We serve outstanding first generation college students from low-income families and undergraduates from groups underrepresented in graduate education. To learn more about program outcomes, check out our program flyer.
The deadline to ensure application consideration for the upcoming year is November 1. The Advisory Board made its selections for 2023-24, but we continue to accept applications in case we are able to invite additional students. For more information about applying and eligibility, visit our application webage.
Learn more by watching Dr. Jordan Lewis' address to Florence School District 3 students on the Legacy of Dr. Ronald E. McNair, here, reading our latest Challenger anniversary letter posted here, and our Scholars' outstanding summer research abstracts and outcomes here.
McNair services help participants increase their competitiveness for, apply to, and succeed in master's and doctoral programs. The program provides transformational research and graduate admissions supports and professional development opportunities throughout the junior and senior years. At Winthrop, this includes, but is not limited to, a paid summer research experience; faculty mentoring; quantitative and verbal reasoning prep; writing and stats & methods coaching; graduate admissions and funding application guidance; and travel to present research and explore graduate programs. At least two-thirds of every Winthrop McNair cohort are first-generation college students who meet the TRiO low-income definition. Up to the remaining one-third of each cohort meet McNair federal eligibility as an undergraduate from a racial or ethnic group underrepresented in graduate education.
Winthrop's program is funded through September 2028 by a five-year renewable TRiO grant from the U.S. Department of Education. $272,364 in federal funding is provided each year for programming and materials that will help 30 eligible students prepare for graduate study. This represents 74% of program costs. Winthrop contributes the remaining 26% of the budget with approximately $94,930 in cash and in-kind funds.
To learn more about the impact of Winthrop's Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program, check out our program flyer or this article in the Winthrop Magazine.
For a fun look at what our Scholars and Alumni have done, visit our newsletters or here.
To learn about our Scholars' award winning research, visit our summer research page, see Scholar Monejah Black's story, or check out http://digitalcommons.winthrop.edu/mcnair/.
Information about applying to the program is available here.
Winthrop McNair Digital Commons
We continue to work with the good folks in Winthrop's Dacus Library to update our Digital Commons pages. In the meantime, here are the last three volumes of the Winthrop McNair Research Bulletin.
Dr. Ronald E. McNair Biography
Other sources of information about Dr. McNair include: His life story throughout Story Corps (Eyes on the Stars), Remembering the Challenger Disaster (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAQcAQWn3UY), and his academic accomplishments (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1BalnZZx9s).
Winthrop McNair GEPA Statement on Equitable Access
Winthrop McNair Graduate Associateship (filled through spring 2025)