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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.
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.
