New options for grad school program

New options for grad school program


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

SALT LAKE CITY — People who oversee a program that helps low income students get into graduate school have added some new options for the students they serve. These new options may be part of the reason the program still exists in Utah.

There's a lot of competition nationwide to be part of the McNair Scholars Program. Major colleges and universities have people managing chapters of the program all over the country. Here in Utah, there is only one. Jo Hinsdale is the director of the McNair Scholars Program at Westminster College.

"We serve various numbers of students," she said. "For instance, I serve 27 a year now, and there are other programs that serve up to 40 or so."

The program helps students at Westminster College, the University of Utah and Salt Lake Community College. Its goal is to find qualified students to support as undergrads, and help them transition into graduate school. But this past year, funding was slashed on a national level.

"There were 200 programs, but in this fiscal year competition, we are down to 158," Hinsdale said.

What is ... the McNair Scholars Program?
  • A federal TRIO program funded at 200 institutions across the U.S. and Puerto Rico by the U.S. Department of Education.
  • Designed to prepare undergraduate students for doctoral studies through involvement in research and other scholarly activities.
  • She said they were able to keep their program alive by adding things like math prep classes and adding more workshops and seminars. They're placing as much emphasis as they can on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics)courses.

    "We're trying to put extra supports in place to help them not only stay in those fields as undergraduates but to be so successful in them [that] they will then go into graduate school," Hinsdale said.

    She said if they weren't able to keep the program going in Utah, those students wouldn't have the help they need to figure out which tests to take and which programs to apply for.

    "None of those things would have happened for these students. They would have been back, trying to figure it out on their own, which is quite a daunting process," she said.

    Related links

    Most recent Utah stories

    Related topics

    Utah
    Paul Nelson

      STAY IN THE KNOW

      Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
      By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

      KSL Weather Forecast