McNair Scholars Program has been awarded a grant for five additional years

MURRAY, Ky. – The McNair Scholars Program at Murray State University has been awarded a grant in the 2022 McNair Competition in the amount of $267,841 per year for five additional years. The current principal investigator (PI) for the grant and the director of the McNair Scholars Program at the University is Leslie Furches. This year’s grant proposal was written by the McNair Coordinator, Dr. Patricia Akojie. The McNair Scholars Program at Murray State was first funded in 2009 and has continued to be awarded McNair grant funding in each five-year grant cycle since then. The grants have been awarded in 2012, 2017 and now 2022.

The McNair Scholars Program is a grant-funded program falling under the TRIO grants through the United States Department of Education. The program serves first-generation, low-income and underrepresented undergraduate students with at least two-thirds being classified as low-income, first-generation students. The remaining one-third may be students from groups underrepresented in graduate education. 

The mission of McNair is to prepare students from diverse and disadvantaged backgrounds for graduate study through involvement in research and other scholarly activities, with an eye toward the students’ attainment of a Doctorate of Philosophy.

McNair scholars work with faculty mentors to complete substantial research projects as well as numerous other program activities which help them get ready for and get into graduate programs. The minimum number of students to be served in the Murray State program each year is now 29.

The Department of Education funding for the Murray State McNair program currently represents over $1.6 million for the next six years, which is $267,841 annually. The University committed $360,000 in funding to the McNair Program over the next six years, which is $60,000 annually, with $150,000 of those monies being directed solely for scholarships for McNair students. With the required 29 students served each year, there is approximately $11,300 of funds budgeted each year per scholar.

Since the beginning, the NcNair Scholars Program at Murray State has served a total of 142 students, 26 of which are current undergraduate students. All of the students served are either first-generation, low-income students or underrepresented students. The program currently has a 94% bachelor’s degree completion rate and additionally, of the 48 students served by the program identifying as members of an underrepresented group, 100% have either graduated with a bachelor’s degree or are currently enrolled as undergraduate students.

Of the 110 students who have already graduated with their bachelor’s degree, 78 of them enrolled in a graduate program, totaling a graduate school enrollment rate of over 70%. Students participating in the McNair program attend graduate school at a much higher rate than other Murray State graduates.

“Thus far we have four students who have received their doctorate degree, 4 PhD and 1 EdD, and one who has received a juris doctorate,” said Furches. “Forty-five other students have received master’s degrees, six of those students are currently enrolled in doctoral programs, including one in medical school. Another 25 McNair graduates are currently in graduate programs, 11 of which are in master’s level programs, 13 of which are in doctoral programs and one of which is in medical school. As a PhD requires five to ten years, after the bachelor’s degree, to complete, and our program is just a little over ten years old, many of our McNair graduates have not had time yet to complete their doctorate. We expect these numbers to increase substantially over time.”

For more information on the McNair Scholars Program at Murray State University please visit murraystate.edu/mcnairscholarsprogram or contact the program director, Leslie Furches, at lfurches@murraystate.edu.