![](media/image1.png){width="1.5in" height="1.9423611111111112in"}U.S.
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program:

2002--05 Facts and Figures at a Glance

Contents

1 Background

2 Program Funding

2 Characteristics of McNair Grantees

3 Characteristics of Active Program Participants

4 Program Services

4 Program Outcomes

^1^ Reports from previous funding: U.S. Department of Education, Office
of Postsecondary Education, *A Profile of the Ronald E. McNair
Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program, 1997--98 Through\
2001--02*, Washington, D.C., 2005; and *A Profile of the Ronald E.
McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program:1999--2000*, Washington,
D.C., 2002

Background

The Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement (McNair) Program is
one of the U.S. Department of Education--funded TRIO Programs, a group
of eight outreach programs designed to support and assist students from
disadvantaged backgrounds to progress through the academic pipeline from
middle school to attainment of a postbaccalaureate degree.

The McNair Program funds four-year postsecondary institutions to
increase the number of doctoral degrees earned by students from
underrepresented populations. Institutions work closely with McNair
participants as they complete their undergraduate requirements to
encourage them to enroll in graduate programs and to track their
progress through to the successful completion of advanced degrees. The
first McNair grantees were funded in 1989, with grant competitions
currently held every four years. All grants are awarded on a four-year
cycle, except for the institutions that score in the top 10 percent of
each competition. These grants are awarded for five years.

Data Sources

Grantees funded by the McNair Program are required to submit an annual
performance report (APR) on the activities conducted during the academic
year (from September of the current year to August of the next year).
Some of the data presented in this document are based on APRs from both
the current\
(2003--07) and the previous funding cycles (1999--2003). Sixteen of the
grantees funded under the previous cycle were discontinued in the
current cycle and thus data are not available for them from any part of
that cycle. As a result, measures such as the percentage of participants
who received a bachelor's degree in academic year 2002--03 and enrolled
in a graduate program in the fall of academic year 2003--04 were
underestimated. While the bachelor's degree recipients from these
discontinued grantees were counted as the cohort eligible to enroll in a
graduate program, the enrollment status of these participants was not
reported in the following year. Furthermore, the 2003--04 APR was
substantially revised to improve data collection. More than 20 new data
fields were added and the definitions of a few existing data fields were
revised. Some of the fluctuations in the trend data may reflect these
revisions in the APR.

Future Reporting

This document highlights the key characteristics of the McNair Program,
its grantees, its student participants, and the participants' academic
achievements as reported in the APR through the 2004--05 reporting year.
Reporting year 2003--04 was the beginning of a new four-year funding
cycle (2003--07) for the McNair Program. When the four-year cycle is
completed, the TRIO Programs will prepare a more extensive report, which
will cover the entire funding cycle from 2003 through 2007 as well as
comparison data from the last years of the previous program cycle.^1^

Program Funding

The total program funding increased from \$38.4 million in 2002--03 to
\$42.1 million in 2004--05. The number of grantees also increased from
156 in 2002--03 (last year of the 1999--2003 funding cycle) to 179 in
2003--04 (first year of the current funding cycle). (See Table 1.)

In the 2003--07 funding cycle, 22 percent of grantees were new and 78
percent had received funding in the 1999--2003 funding cycle. In
addition, 10 percent of the grantees funded in the previous cycle did
not receive funding in the 2003--07 funding cycle. (See Table 2.)

Characteristics of McNair Grantees

The distribution in the type of institution and minority status
participation among the grantees remained stable between the two funding
cycles. In both funding cycles, 78 percent were public four-year
institutions and 22 percent were private four‑year institutions. The
majority of grantees (82 percent) were non-minority institutions, while
8 percent were Historically Black Colleges and Universities and 10
percent were Hispanic-Serving Institutions. (See Table 3.)

Table 1. McNair Program funding, by number of grantees funded, number of
participants funded to serve, average project award, amount per
participant funded to serve, and average number funded to serve:
2002--03, 2003--04, and 2004--05

  ------------------------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
                                                 Program year   

  Funding profile                 2002--03       2003--04\*     2004--05

  Total program funding           \$38,357,300   \$41,885,612   \$42,092,721

  Number of grantees funded       156            179            179

  Number of participants funded   3,738          4,248          4,256
  to serve                                                      

  Average project award           \$245,880      \$233,998      \$235,155

  Amount per participant funded   \$10,261       \$9,860        \$9,890
  to serve                                                      

  Average number of participants  24             24             24
  funded to serve                                               
  ------------------------------- -------------- -------------- --------------

SOURCE: Data from the program files of the U.S. Department of Education,
Federal TRIO Programs, Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement
Program annual performance reports, 2002--03, 2003--04, and 2004--05.

\*The McNair Program began a new four-year funding cycle in 2003--04,
which goes through 2007.

Table 2. Number and percentage of McNair grantees and participants for
the new 2003--07 cycle, continuing from the 1999--2003 cycle, and
discontinued in the 2003--07 cycle

  -------------------------- ----------- ----------- -------------- -----------
                             Grantees                Participants   

  Project continuation       Number      Percent     Number         Percent
  status                                                            

  New grantees^a^            39          21.8^d^     828            4.0 ^f^

  Continuing grantees^b^     140         78.2^x^     19,984         96.0 ^x^

  Discontinued grantees^c^   16          10.3^e^     1,624          7.5 ^g^
  -------------------------- ----------- ----------- -------------- -----------

SOURCE: Data from the U.S. Department of Education, Federal TRIO
Programs, Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program annual
performance reports, 2002--03 and 2003--04.

^a^New grantees joined the McNair Program for the first time in the
2003--07 funding cycle and were not in the 1999--2003 funding cycle.

^b^Continuing grantees received funding in both the 1999--2003 and the
2003--07 funding cycles.

^c^Discontinued grantees received funding in the 1999--2003 funding
cycle but did not receive funding in the 2003--07 funding cycle.

^d^The percentage is based on the number of new grantees (39) divided by
the sum of new (39) and continuing grantees (140).

^e^The percentage is calculated by dividing the number of discontinued
grantees (16) by the total number of grantees funded in the 1999--2003
funding cycle (156).

^f^The percentage is calculated as the number of participants from new
grantees (828) divided by the sum of participants from new (828) and
continuing grantees (19,984).

^g^The percentage is calculated as the number of participants from
discontinued grantees (1,624) divided by the sum of participants from
discontinued (1,624) and continuing grantees (19,984).

Characteristics of Active Program Participants^2^

The distribution of active participants by gender, eligibility, and
race/ethnicity remained relatively unchanged from 2002--03 to 2004--05.
At least two-thirds of active participants were female, over two-thirds
were low-income and first-generation, and less than one-third were from
underrepresented groups. Over 40 percent of the participants were
African-Americans and about one-quarter of the participants were
Hispanics. (See Table 4.)

^2^ *Active participants* are defined as students who received McNair
services in the reporting year.

Table 3. Percentage of McNair grantees, by type and control of
institution and minority-serving status: 1999--2003 and 2003--07\*

  --------------------------------------- --------------- ---------------
                                          Funding cycle   

  Institution characteristics             1999--2003      2003--07\*

  **Type and control of institution**                     

  Public four-year                        78.2            78.2

  Private four-year                       21.8            21.8

  Total                                   100.0           100.0

  **Minority-serving status**                             

  Historically Black Colleges and         8.3             7.8
  Universities                                            

  Hispanic-Serving Institutions           10.3            10.1

  Non-minority status institutions        81.4            82.1

  Total                                   100.0           100.0
  --------------------------------------- --------------- ---------------

SOURCE: Data from the program files of the U.S. Department of Education,
Federal TRIO Programs, Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement
Program annual performance reports, 2002--03, 2003--04, and 2004--05.

\*The McNair Program began a new four-year funding cycle in 2003--04,
which goes through 2007.

Table 4. Percentage of McNair active participants^a^, by select
characteristics: 2002--03, 2003--04, and 2004--05

+-------------------------------+-----------+------------+-----------+
|                               | > Program |            |           |
|                               | > year    |            |           |
+-------------------------------+-----------+------------+-----------+
| Participant Characteristics   | 2002--03  | 2003--04b  | 2004--05  |
+-------------------------------+-----------+------------+-----------+
| **Gender**                    |           |            |           |
+-------------------------------+-----------+------------+-----------+
| Female                        | 67.3      | 68.1       | 68.2      |
+-------------------------------+-----------+------------+-----------+
| Male                          | 32.7      | 31.9       | 31.8      |
+-------------------------------+-----------+------------+-----------+
| Total                         | 100.0     | 100.0      | 100.0     |
+-------------------------------+-----------+------------+-----------+
| **Eligibility status**        |           |            |           |
+-------------------------------+-----------+------------+-----------+
| Low-income and                | 69.6      | 71.2       | 71.3      |
| first-generation^c^           |           |            |           |
+-------------------------------+-----------+------------+-----------+
| Underrepresented              | 30.4      | 28.8       | 28.7      |
| minorities^d^                 |           |            |           |
+-------------------------------+-----------+------------+-----------+
| Total                         | 100.0     | 100.0      | 100.0     |
+-------------------------------+-----------+------------+-----------+
| **Race/ethnicity**            |           |            |           |
+-------------------------------+-----------+------------+-----------+
| American Indian/Alaska Native | 3.9       | 2.8        | 3.0       |
+-------------------------------+-----------+------------+-----------+
| Asian                         | 4.6       | 5.1        | 4.9       |
+-------------------------------+-----------+------------+-----------+
| Black/African-American        | 45.0      | 44.5       | 43.3      |
+-------------------------------+-----------+------------+-----------+
| Hispanic or Latino            | 26.0      | 23.9       | 24.1      |
+-------------------------------+-----------+------------+-----------+
| White                         | 17.2      | 20.9       | 21.2      |
+-------------------------------+-----------+------------+-----------+
| Native Hawaiian or other      | 1.1       | 0.7        | 1.0       |
| Pacific Islander              |           |            |           |
+-------------------------------+-----------+------------+-----------+
| More than one race            | 2.2       | 2.1        | 2.4       |
+-------------------------------+-----------+------------+-----------+
| Total                         | 100.0     | 100.0      | 99.9      |
+-------------------------------+-----------+------------+-----------+

SOURCE: Data from the U.S. Department of Education, Federal TRIO
Programs, Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program annual
performance reports, 2002--03, 2003--04, and 2004--05.

NOTE: Percentages may not sum to 100 due to rounding.

^a^Active participants are defined as students who received McNair
services in the reporting year.

^b^The McNair Program began a new four-year funding cycle in 2003--04,
which goes through 2007.

^c^A low-income participant is defined as a participant whose family's
taxable income did not exceed 150 percent of the poverty level in the
calendar year preceding the year in which the individual initially
received services. A first-generation college student is defined as a
student from a family in which neither parent (whether natural or
adoptive) received a baccalaureate degree or a student who, prior to the
age of 18, regularly resided with and received support from only one
natural or adoptive parent and whose supporting parent did not receive a
baccalaureate degree.

^d^Underrepresented McNair participants are defined as African-American,
American Indian/Alaska Native, Hispanic or Latino, and Native Hawaiian
or other Pacific Islander.

Program Services

In 2004--05, program grantees offered a variety of activities to assist
participants with entering and completing doctoral study. Close to 90
percent of active participants received academic counseling and
mentoring and participated in various seminars and workshops. About 80
percent of active participants received assistance in applying to
graduate school and in applying for financial aid. Other activities,
such as test preparation, graduate school visits, and research
activities, were also commonly used among active participants. (See
Figure 1.)

Program Outcomes

The goal of the McNair Program is to assist and support low-income,
first-generation college students and those from groups underrepresented
in pursuing doctoral studies. Enrolling in graduate school is a
milestone in attaining that goal. Two empirical measures were used to
calculate the percentage of bachelor's degree recipients who enrolled in
graduate school immediately after their graduation.

First Measure

The first measure used two APR data fields, enrollment status (enrolled
in postsecondary education) and college grade level (current college
grade level at the end of the academic year), to define graduate school
enrollment. As illustrated in Figure 2, this rate increased from about
40 percent for students who graduated from an undergraduate program in
2000--01 to over 52 percent for students who graduated from an
undergraduate program in\
2003--04.

Second Measure

The enrollment status field was one of the data fields redefined in the
2003--04 APR. To minimize reporting error introduced by this change, the
second measure defined graduate school enrollment on the basis of
college grade level only. Enrollment based on this measure, reported in
the *Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA)* requirements,
increased from about 40 percent for participants who graduated in
2000--01 to about 57 percent for participants who graduated in 2003--04
(see Figure 3).

For both measures used to define graduate school enrollment, the largest
increase was found for participants who graduated in 2003--04. The
result was affected by transition to a new funding cycle. Excluding the
discontinued grantees from the 2002--03 cohort would reduce the increase
by nearly one-third. Furthermore, the result could also be confounded by
the redesigned APR, and by a new procedure, first implemented with the
2003--04 APR, that asks grantees to update and resolve data problems
found by the Federal TRIO Programs. When they become available, the
2005--06 APRs will show whether the observed increases in the graduate
school enrollment rates continued for the 2004--05 cohort.

Figure 1. Percentage of McNair active participants, by select program
services: 2004--05

![](media/image4.wmf)

> SOURCE: Data from the U.S. Department of Education, Federal TRIO
> Programs, Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program
> annual performance report, 2004--05.

Figure 2. Annual graduate school enrollment rate for McNair participants
enrolling in graduate school immediately after receiving a bachelor's
degree, by graduation years 2000--01 through 2003--04\*, and measured by
the APR fields "current college grade level" and "enrollment status"

![](media/image7.wmf)

> SOURCE: Data from the U.S. Department of Education, Federal TRIO
> Programs, Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program
> annual performance reports, 2000--01 through 2004--05.

NOTE: Graduate school enrollment rates for participants who graduated in
academic years 2000--01 through 2001--02 were based on information from
the previous funding cycle, including the 16 grantees whose funding was
not renewed in the new funding cycle. The graduate school enrollment
rate in 2003--04 for students who graduated in 2002--03 included the 16
discontinued grantees in the denominator but did not include the
2003--04 graduate school enrollment information in the numerator. For
participants who graduated in 2003--04, the 2004--05 graduate school
enrollment rate did not include students from the 16 discontinued
grantees in either the denominator or the numerator.

\*The McNair Program began a new four-year funding cycle in 2003--04,
which goes through 2007.

Figure 3. Annual graduate school enrollment rate for McNair participants
enrolling in graduate school immediately after receiving a bachelor's
degree, by graduation years 2000--01 through 2003--04\*, and reported as
GPRA indicator and measured by the APR field "current college grade
level"

![](media/image10.wmf)

> SOURCE: Data from the U.S. Department of Education, Federal TRIO
> Programs, Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program
> annual performance reports, 2000--01 through 2004--05.

NOTE: Graduate school enrollment rates for participants who graduated in
academic years 2000--01 through 2001--02 were based on information from
the previous funding cycle, including the 16 grantees whose funding was
not renewed in the new funding cycle. The graduate school enrollment
rate in 2003--04 for students who graduated in 2002--03 included the 16
discontinued grantees in the denominator but did not include the
2003--04 graduate school enrollment information in the numerator. For
participants who graduated in 2003--04, the 2004--05 graduate school
enrollment rate did not include students from the 16 discontinued
grantees in either the denominator or the numerator.

\*The McNair Program began a new four-year funding cycle in 2003--04,
which goes through 2007.

  ------------ ---- ------------------------------------------------------
                    

  **Notes:**        Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement
                    Program: 2002--05 Facts and Figures at a Glance

                    

                    

                    

                    

                    

                    

                    

                    

                    

                    

                    

                    

                    

                    

                    

                    

                    

                    

                    

                    

                    

                    

                    

                    

                    

                    
  ------------ ---- ------------------------------------------------------

**U.S. Department of Education**\
Margaret Spellings\
*Secretary*

**Office of Postsecondary Education**\
Diane Auer Jones\
*Assistant Secretary*

This publication is in the public domain. Authorization to reproduce it
in whole or in part is granted. The publication's citation should be:
U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education, *Ronald
E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program 2002--05 Facts and
Figures at a Glance*, Washington, D.C., 2007.

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