Texas State receives McNair Scholars Program grant to benefit TRIO students

Texas State University has been selected to receive grant funding under the Ronald E. McNair Post Baccalaureate Achievement program through the U.S. Department of Education (DoE).

The university will receive a total of $1.3 million over the next five years to serve 25 McNair Scholars annually.

“This is a monumental event for our university and adds to our already stellar TRIO portfolio,” said Ray Cordero, senior director of Texas State TRIO Programs.

The DoE grant award is named for Ronald E. McNair a NASA astronaut and physicist who died during the launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986. He earned his doctorate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was one of 35 applicants chosen from among 10,000 who sought to join NASA in 1978.    

“We are delighted to receive funding for the McNair Scholars Program. Ronald E. McNair dedicated his life to academic excellence and the pursuit of his passions. We are humbled and honored to be able to provide students at Texas State this opportunity to follow in his footsteps and look forward to growing this program on our campus for years to come,” said Gigi Secuban, vice president for Inclusive Excellence.

The McNair Achievement Program awards research money and internships to first-generation and low-income students in preparation for graduate study.

“TRIO is a set of federal outreach and student service programs designed to identify and provide services for first-generation or post traditional students,” Cordero said. 

The McNair Scholars program is joining  Upward Bound, Student Support Services, and Talent Search as part of the TRIO Programs that serve students from middle school to post-baccalaureate programs.

Texas State is recognized as the birthplace of TRIO programs in the TRIO community. TRIO began at Texas State as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty. The Educational Opportunity Act of 1964 established an experimental program known as Upward Bound. Then, in 1965, the Higher Education Act created Talent Search, which was signed by LBJ on the Texas State campus.