The McNair Scholars Program continues to be pivotal towards increasing diversity within graduate schools in the USA, particularly within doctoral programmes. The programme provides underrepresented undergraduate students with opportunities to learn about research and applying to graduate schools, which otherwise might not be available for these…

Many states are passing "free" college plans, and policymakers at both the state and federal level continue to debate the merits of national "free college" or "debt-free college" proposals, also known as Promise programs. Both federal and state "free" college proposals are geared toward a policy objective of…

This chapter provides an overview of undergraduate STEM initiatives for underrepresented minorities and women, as well as a description and critical analysis of one comprehensive federally funded initiative at a research-intensive university.

The federally funded Ronald B. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program (McNair Program) prepares first-generation, low-income, and underrepresented college undergraduates to pursue terminal graduate degrees. This study examines 22 McNair scholars' transitions into graduate school in an attempt to identify factors that influence alumni…

Since 1965 the federal government has attempted to provide low socioeconomic status students with equal access to postsecondary education through the Higher Education Act and its multiplicative programmatic efforts. Implemented as one such program in 1998, the Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs, or GEAR UP, has been…